Stephen King apologizes for mocking Republicans in train wreck

ew.com ^ | February 02, 2018 AT 09:45 AM EST | James Hibberd

[Red Badger]

Those who follow him on Twitter know that horror author Stephen King has been a rather tough and consistent critic of Donald Trump and the GOP.

But on Thursday that iconic IT author posted a tweet that he ended up walking back.

First, King fired off a snark tweet about the West Virginia accident where a train carrying dozens of members of Congress, including House Speaker Paul Ryan, hit a truck on the way to a Republican retreat:

Stephen King‏Verified account @StephenKing

A trainload of Republicans on their way to a pricey retreat hit a garbage truck. My friend Russ calls that karma. 9:00 AM - 1 Feb 2018

But then readers told him the accident was fatal to the truck driver. So then he came back with this:

✔ @StephenKing

Of COURSE sorry the truck driver died. 11:20 AM - Feb 1, 2018

And then, upon further reflection, just went ahead and apologized:

Stephen King ‏Verified account @StephenKing 19h19 hours ago

A rather thoughtless tweet from me concerning the train-truck crash, for which I apologize (if one is necessary). It should be pointed out, too, that those Republican politicians, who can be heartless when they vote, immediately got out to help. 4,694 replies 775 retweets 10,605 likes

Adding to the confusion: The driver was actually misreported as having died. According to CNN, the driver was seriously injured but is still alive. The wreck did cause one fatality, however, a passenger who was not a member of Congress. Otherwise, the accident caused minor injuries. “Today’s incident was a terrible tragedy,” Ryan tweeted. “We are grateful for the first responders who rushed to the scene and we pray for the victims and their families. May they all be in our thoughts right now.”

King later retweeted a call for a GoFundMe for the victim:

[Red Badger]

Stephen King, still an asshole after all these years........................

[Eddie01]

It’s too late
He’s gone too far
He’s lost the sun
He’s come undone

[Pearls Before Swine]

When Mr. King was hit by that car, I felt bad for him.

Now, perhaps, I’ll look at his accident as a form of pre-emptive cosmic justice.

[treetopsandroofs]

I heard that in Paul Simon’s voice. :-)

[Professional]

This guy has become a total loon. I’m going to toss out every book of his on my shelf. Good grief he’s retarded.

[Vaquero]

Only liked the stories he wrote that they changed for the movies. He hated “The Shining” Nicholson movie. I loved it.

Eff you King.

[Jeff Chandler]

Celebrities tend to be childish liberals. Who knew?

[tomkat]

Apology NOT accepted !

GFU

[ronniesgal]

i just read about this!
TBH though, I don’t care about Don Lemons sister or Jimmy Kimmels car accident.

[Red Badger]

When Mr. King was hit by that car, I felt bad for him.

Now I feel bad for the car.....................

[redcatcherb412]

Karma would have been the truck running over this jerk a few years back smearing him a little thinner on the road.

[Red Badger]

I liked ‘Thinner’......................

[dragonblustar]

King and his British twin, JK Rowling, have become so unhinged. How many fans have they chased away because of their obsession and hatred towards Trump???

[SJSAMPLE]

“(if one is necessary)”

That’s not an apology.

[SMARTY]

Not one of these creeps knows how to govern his/her tongue.

AS IF there isn’t an internet right now... where EVERY SINGLE thing you do and say is there FOREVER!!!

[Jeff Chandler]

I heard that in Paul Simon’s voice. :-)

I heard it in Burton Cummings' voice.

[mrsmel]

These people project upon us that we call things like Katrina flooding NO “karma”, and such, when we haven’t even done that. But they’re the first to call it something like “karma” when Republicans or conservatives are shot at a baseball practice, or possibly injured in a train wreck, or even what they just assume are conservatives (because there was country music being played), being shot at in a casino. They’re hypocrites and pigs.

[Sans-Culotte]

Only liked the stories he wrote that they changed for the movies. He hated “The Shining” Nicholson movie. I loved it.

The Shining is the only Stephen King book I ever read. The movie is a lot different in the way it handled the lead character. I love the movie. I think it has surpassed the book at this point. When most people think The Shining, I think they think of the movie and Jack Nicholson now. So many classic images from that film.

[ChildOfThe60s]

Another less than worthless apology from a lying liberal.

Apologies only matter when the person is a) sincerely sorry - he isn’t; and b) when the person doesn’t do it again - he will.

[blackdog]

He realizes that Republicans can and do read books. Hence the back peddling.