Author Stephen King was met with fierce backlash after asking President Joe Biden to abandon his 2024 reelection campaign in a viral social media post.
Biden has repeatedly said that he will stay in the race despite being under increasing pressure to withdraw his candidacy following a widely panned performance in last month's debate with former President Donald Trump.
King, an outspoken Democrat and frequent Trump critic, said on Monday in a post to X, formerly Twitter, that Biden was a "fine president" but said "it's time" for him to step aside and make way for a new Democratic nominee.
In the post, viewed more than 3.8 million times as of Monday evening, King wrote the following: "Joe Biden has been a fine president, but it's time for him—in the interests of the America he so clearly loves—to announce he will not run for re-election."
Newsweek reached out for comment to the Biden campaign via email on Monday evening.
King's call for the incumbent president to withdraw his candidacy was met with a harsh reception by Biden supporters on X, with many quickly denouncing the author.
"This is a terrible take," author and pastor John Pavlovitz wrote. "Biden is trailing by just 2 percent in swing states even after the debate performance... That small percentage could easily be overcome in the next 120 days..."
"Much respect for you, but this ain't it," wrote Joanne "JoJoFromJerz" Carducci." "Your voice is incredibly important in this fight, and we need you to come back home because there is no other plausible pathway to defeating the fascist felon.
"There's not enough time, even if there was a reasonably possible plan, to replace our nominee," she added. "We need everyone aligned in this fight. Stand with our nominee. Focus your fire on the enemy. That is how we win."
"This is disappointing," wrote Allison Gill the Mueller, She Wrote podcast.
"Oh, this is your new horror story! Good one. Whew! Had me going there," Star Trek actor George Takei wrote.
"Biden has been a fantastic President. So much so that we voted for him to be the Democratic candidate again," wrote @JaredRyanSears. "Making a change now would be foolish and would lead to a second Trump presidency. Amazing to see those who are abandoning Biden at the first bump in the road."
"Hard block and unfollow. Incredibly disappointed," @LakotaMan1 wrote.
Meanwhile, others took the opportunity to troll King by suggesting that he was supporting Trump. At least one Trump supporter also claimed that "everyone" in the country would be voting for the former president.
"Even Stephen King is voting for Trump!" wrote X owner Elon Musk.
"Everyone is voting for President Trump!" MAGA influencer @GuntherEagleman wrote.
In reality, King has in no way suggested that he will be supporting Trump, while polling suggests that the presidential election remains essentially deadlocked despite continued calls from some for Biden to step aside.
Polling website FiveThirtyEight's election simulations, which are based on polling, demographics and other factors, also suggest that Biden has a nearly even chance of being reelected regardless of his recent difficulties, winning 48 out of 100 simulations as of Monday.
Additionally, FiveThirtyEight simulations indicate that Vice President Kamala Harris—Biden's most likely replacement—currently has significantly slimmer chances of defeating Trump, winning just 31 percent of simulated elections.
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