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Stephen King has delivered a warning to his fans about Elon Musk and the influence that the billionaire has over the president-elect, Donald Trump.
The United States is bracing itself for a second Trump presidency, with his inauguration date set for 20 January. However, unlike his previous tenure from 2017 until 2021, Trump is now joined, virtually hand-in-hand, with the increasingly controversial Musk.
Republicans have also called for South African-born Musk to be the new speaker of the House amid contentious negotiations over a spending deal to avoid a government shutdown.
Now Stephen King has sent a warning to his fans on Threads, about Musk, explaining why the 53-year-old can never become president but is clearly having a major impact on the future of the country.
King wrote: “You can’t call Elon Musk the President-elect, because he wasn’t elected. In fact, having been born in Pretoria, he is ineligible to become president. Nonetheless, he is running the show. You know that, but it bears repeating.”
In response to his post, his readers have expressed their horror at King’s statement, calling it scarier than any of his novels.
One person wrote: “This real life is eminently scarier than any of the books of yours that I’ve read. I hate it. Can I just try to first fight Pennywise or Cujo? You could write a book about Elon called maximum over-fried.”
A second fan said: “This is definitely one horror story that needs a good Stephen King finish!”
A third person added: “Scary s*** this. And as a South African I’m a tad embarrassed.”
This is hardly the first time that The Shining and It author has voiced his criticism of Musk.
The day before November’s election, Musk shared a video of Kamala Harris supporting “mandatory gun confiscation” with the caption: “She wants to break the Constitution.”
King replied: “That’s ridiculous. As usual,” and followed up his post with: “Last tweet from me (probably not from the Musk-Man) before Election Day: IF YOU LOVE DEMOCRACY, PLEASE VOTE FOR KAMALA HARRIS.”
Earlier that month, King addressed a rumour that Musk had banned him from his X/Twitter platform.
It was claimed that King had made a jibe that angered Musk, so much that he blocked the ‘Salem’s Lot author from posting on the website. According to the rumour, King had jokingly referred to Musk as Trump’s “first lady”.
“I see there’s a rumour going around that I called the Musk-man Trump’s new first lady,” King wrote, adding: “I didn’t, but only because I didn’t think of it.”
King continued: “There’s also a rumour going around that Muskie kicked me off Twitter. Yet here I am.”