Stephen King’s smackdown of Donald Trump causes a stir

Stephen King has slammed comments about the Battle of Gettysburg made by former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.

The rally was Trump’s first major campaign event in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, which President Joe Biden is expected to visit in the coming days.

King is no stranger to criticizing the former president online and a post he made to X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday was no different.

“Trump: ‘Gettysburg! Wow!’ What a dimbulb,” the critically acclaimed author wrote, with the post going viral with 577,100 views and more than 1,000 comments at the time of writing.

His post was in response to Trump’s heavily criticized comments at the rally, where he addressed the crowd while wearing a Make America Great Again hat.

“Gettysburg, what an unbelievable battle that was,” Trump said. “It was so much, and so interesting, and so vicious and horrible, and so beautiful in so many different ways—it represented such a big portion of the success of this country.

“Gettysburg, wow—I go to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to look and to watch. And the statement of Robert E. Lee, who’s no longer in favor—did you ever notice it? He’s no longer in favor. ‘Never fight uphill, me boys, never fight uphill.’ They were fighting uphill, he said, ‘Wow, that was a big mistake,’ he lost his big general. ‘Never fight uphill, me boys,’ but it was too late.”

Newsweek emailed King and a spokesperson for Trump for comment on Monday outside of usual business hours.

King, who has previously said that he joined the Democratic Party in 1970, is an outspoken critic of Trump and his posts on X are often divisive.

Some people took to the comments section of the horror author’s post to support him.

“Stephen, trump calls ‘beautiful’ the deadliest battle of the Civil War. 23,000 Federal troops and 28,000 Confederate soldiers were killed, injured or captured over the three day battle,” one person wrote before adding: “8th grader’s essay test answer after zero studying: ‘The Battle of Gettysburg. What an unbelievable — it was so much, and so interesting, and so vicious and horrible, and so beautiful in so many different ways. The success of this country. Gettysburg, wow.’-Donald Trump.”

“A complete tool, yup,” said another.

However, others took the opportunity to criticize King.

“Mr. King, Might I suggest you read ‘The Miracle of Mindfulness’ by Thich Nhat Hanh. It is very helpful to overcome the obstacle of unproductive thought, leading to healthier thinking and rumination,” a different X user wrote.

“Twitter is really amazing, you learn so much about people….like those you admired once …then you see what/who they are,” someone else wrote.

A third person added: “Because you’re failing as a writer. You took a job as a paid Democrat?”

Trump’s mention of the Battle of Gettysburg, which was fought between July 1 and 3, 1863, between Confederates and Federal troops, was also noticed by other social media users, including journalists.

“Trump goes on a weird rant about the battle of Gettysburg and then notes of Robert E. Lee that ‘he’s no longer in favor. Did you ever notice that?'” wrote journalist Aaron Rupar.

Confederate General Lee led the slave-holding states in the South toward the end of the American Civil War.

“Donald Trump doesn’t know the first thing about The Battle of Gettysburg. He shouldn’t even try being a historian. His lack of in-depth knowledge quickly reveals itself,” wrote an X user who describes themself as pro-Ron DeSantis.

Many users also questioned how the deadliest battle of the Civil War, with an estimated 23,000 Federal troops and 28,000 Confederate soldiers killed, injured or captured over three days, could be considered “beautiful.”

Though the Civil War officially ended almost two years after Gettysburg, the bloody battle is considered a turning point for the eventual victory of the Union in 1865.

Pennsylvania’s 19 electoral votes—the most of any swing state in the country—could make a big difference for Biden and Trump in November, as they have in previous elections. Trump won the state in 2016 by fewer than 45,000 votes over Hillary Clinton, but lost it to Biden in 2020, who won by less than 1.5 percent, or about 80,000 votes.