Author Stephen King has taken a swipe at Donald Trump ahead of the former president’s expected debate with Vice President Kamala Harris.
Republican Trump and Democratic candidate Harris are scheduled to participate in the presidential debate moderated by ABC on September 10. It will be their first meeting on the debate stage before the November election.
The debate is of great importance and could prove decisive in the 2024 election. Harris hopes to continue to benefit from the enthusiasm and support for her candidacy for the White House.
It’s also a later-than-usual debate debut for Harris. The CNN-moderated debate between Trump and his then-2024 challenger Joe Biden in June ultimately led to the president abandoning his re-election campaign amid questions about his shaky performance. Biden subsequently endorsed Harris in the race.
As the debate date approached, the vice president’s team repeatedly accused Trump of being afraid to face Harris on the debate stage after he suggested he could pull out of the previously agreed-upon event. Trump has since recommitted to the ABC debate but continues his attacks on the network, hinting on Sunday on his Truth Social platform that he may no longer want to participate.
The former president accused ABC News of being “ridiculous and biased” and full of “Trump haters,” but the Republican candidate also voiced his objections to the terms Harris’ team plans to use in the debate.
Author King, who frequently criticizes Trump, commented on the matter in an ironic commentary on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday.
“Trump is ready,” King wrote on the platform. “If he wins the debate, it will be because Jesus is a MAGA man. If he loses, it will be because ABC is mean to him. You know what I mean? He’s got it.”
MAGA, an acronym for “Make America Great Again,” is a slogan introduced by Trump’s team during his 2016 presidential campaign.
At the time of writing, King’s post had already been viewed over 300,000 times. Newsweek has emailed a representative for Trump seeking comment.
Trump accused Harris’ team of trying to “change the rules for the ABC Fake News debate,” referring to disagreements within the campaigns over muting microphones during the September 10 event.
In June, before the CNN presidential debate, the Trump and Biden teams agreed that the candidates’ microphones would be muted unless they were asked to respond, a measure designed to avoid interruptions and the candidates shouting over each other.
Harris’ team has asked that the microphones not be muted during the ABC debate, apparently to prevent Trump’s outbursts of anger.
“The Vice President is prepared to confront Trump’s constant lies and interruptions in real time. Trump should stop hiding behind the mute button,” Harris’ spokesman Brian Fallon said in a statement.
King claimed earlier this month that he had convinced Trump supporters to vote for Harris in the election. On August 15, he shared a photo of himself wearing a Harris campaign shirt that read “I’m speaking” and giving two thumbs up to the camera.
In a follow-up message, the “King of Horror” said, “Wow! The guys and girls of MAGA saw me in my Kamala shirt and immediately said, ‘Okay, I’m going to vote for her!'”
Harris told then-Vice President Mike Pence, “I’m speaking,” when he interrupted her during a 2020 debate, giving rise to memes and an infamous catchphrase. Now Harris supporters are repurposing the slogan, printing it on merchandise for sale online on sites like Etsy and the Human Rights Campaign.
Trump, his running mate JD Vance, and Harris and her vice presidential candidate Tim Walz will face each other in the US presidential election on November 5.