Author and longtime Donald Trump critic Stephen King has gone viral for posting that he loves pop singer Taylor Swift, hours after Trump wrote that he hates her.
"I love Taylor Swift. Her music makes me happy. End of story," King wrote on X Sunday evening. The post was viewed 3.3 million times and liked 189,000 times by Monday morning. Earlier on Sunday, the Republican presidential nominee wrote on Truth Social "I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT."
On Sunday a man was arrested after attempting to assassinate Trump at his golf course in West Palm Beach, Florida, nearly a week after the former president's TV debate with election opponent Kamala Harris.
Swift, one of the most influential and bestselling music artists in the world, endorsed vice president Harris for president last Tuesday, after the debate.
King's post on X received criticism from Trump supports who attacked him for loving Swift, as well as attacking Swift herself, and expressing skepticism that the horror author was a real fan of hers.
Elon Musk, the Trump-supporting billionaire owner of the social media site replied: "What are your fav TS songs?" indicating that King was saying he loved Swift only because they share politics and would not be able to name any of her songs. Musk's comment comes a week after he was accused of being creepy when he wrote to Swift "I will give you a child."
MAGA influencer Paul A. Szypula replied, "Taylor Swift's music is mostly about choosing the wrong person," making a joke suggesting that the way Swift uses her own relationships in her songs indicates she would make poor choices endorsing a presidential candidate.
Valentina Gomez, a Trump hard-liner who was eliminated in the Republican primary for the 2024 Missouri Secretary of State election, criticized King for loving Swift, writing "You're a feminized man, or in other words, a p***y. End of story."
The controversy comes after Swift's endorsement last Tuesday.
In an Instagram post, in which Swift did not directly attack Trump, she announced her support for Harris, praising her as "a steady-handed, gifted leader" who could accomplish more by leading with "calm and not chaos."
The former president's campaign previously shared artificial intelligence-generated images depicting Swift and her fans as Trump supporters—images Swift cited as a reason for her public endorsement of Harris. She signed the message with "Childless Cat Lady" and included a photograph of herself holding her cat, in an apparent reference to comments that Ohio Senator JD Vance, the Republican vice-presidential nominee, made in 2021, when he described leading Democrats as "a bunch of childless cat ladies."
Previously speaking to Newsweek, Mark Shanahan, an American politics expert at the University of Surrey in the United Kingdom, said that Swift would boost Harris' appeal among the demographics she needed to win in November.
"Her camp will be hugely buoyed by the decision of the biggest personal brand in global entertainment to endorse the Democrat ticket straight after the candidates left the stage," he said. "Harris needs an alliance of women, the young and minorities to win this election. Swifties spread across all those categories."
Trump frequently targets celebrities who choose not to support him. In the past he has leveled attacks at Alec Baldwin, who has impersonated Trump on Saturday Night Live, and Meryl Streep who he called "overrated" after she criticized him at the Golden Globes in 2017, among others.
Last month at a rally in Atlanta, Georgia he said "I have a bad trait. I only like people that like me. Does that make sense?"
Newsweek has contacted Trump's campaign, Harris's campaign, and spokespeople for King and Swift for comment.
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