Stephen King's Plea for Donald Trump

Stephen King doesn't shy away from making his political opinions known, and now he's shared his plea for Donald Trump.

The author often takes to social media to criticize the former president and wants someone to tell Trump to "stop being an a******" after the Republican had an outburst in court. Newsweek contacted spokespeople for Trump and King via email for comment Friday.

On Thursday, Trump appeared at a Manhattan courthouse as his defense team wrapped up closing arguments in the $370 million civil fraud trial involving him, his two eldest sons and the Trump Organization. New York Attorney General Letitia James' lawsuit says that the defendants defrauded banks and insurers to obtain more-favorable financial benefits by grossly inflating the value of Trump's assets. The former president denies any wrongdoing and says the case is part of a political witch hunt against him because he is the frontrunner for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.

Both sides presented their closing arguments before Judge Arthur Engoron. However, Trump was blocked by the presiding judge from giving his own closing statements after his legal team missed a series of deadlines. This resulted in Trump leaving the courtroom after an unprompted outburst.

It's clear that King doesn't approve of Trump's antics, as he made his thoughts known on X, formerly Twitter. He wrote: "Perhaps someone—a judge would be my pick—should tell Trump, 'Stop being an a******.'"

As with all of King's tweets, this post was divisive. People took to the comments to share their support for Trump and their disdain for the horror author.

"There's a ton of folks that should look in the mirror and say that as well, hint, hint," one person wrote.

"We tell you all the time and you don't listen. Why should Trump," added another X user.

"Great author, terrible at politics. So separated from what the majority of Americans go through. I imagine if you lived a week in the middle class you'd change your attitude. But you'll sit in your multi million dollar property in Maine making claims that you're no different than rural folks. You're truly just a fool who tells good stories," a third person wrote.

A fourth added: "Why should we tell anyone what to think or say?"

Others agreed with King but said it was unlikely that Trump would ever be quiet.

"I suspect he's told that 1,000,000,000 times a day. The problem is he never listens," a different X user wrote.

"Perhaps someone, maybe a judge should throw him in prison finally???!! Sound good??" someone else asked.

"He wouldn't listen. When has he ever?" another posted, while one social-media user added: "I think a lot of people have tried."

Even though Trump was blocked from giving a statement on Thursday, his lawyer Chris Kise requested that Engoron allow the Republican to speak after the defense finished their statements. The judge directly asked Trump to promise to comment only on the law and facts of the case.

Despite this, the former president ignored Engoron's request and spoke immediately after Kise had asked permission, according to Lisa Rubin, an MSNBC legal expert who covered the trial live on Thursday.

"This was a political witch hunt; we should receive damages for what they have taken our company through. They have no documents—they have nothing!" Trump said, according to Rubin, who posted the comments on X.

"I am an innocent man," Trump added. "I have been politically persecuted... This statute is vicious."

The New York Times writer Jonah Bromwich, who also reported live from inside the courtroom, said that Trump made multiple direct jabs at James. Engoron told Kise to control his client, although that didn't stop the former president from criticizing the judge as well, saying, "You can't listen for more than one minute."

Bromwich said that Trump got up and left the courtroom after Engoron interrupted the Republican's rant.

Trump has maintained throughout his fraud case that he is innocent, as he has in his plethora of other legal challenges.

King has previously said Trump is unfit to be president. The author joined the Democratic party in 1970 and has been an outspoken critic of Trump since before the 77-year-old was elected president in 2016.

On May 24, 2016, King was one of 450 writers to sign an open letter opposing Trump's candidacy, with the author supporting Democrat Hilary Clinton's campaign.