Bestselling novelist Stephen King is the latest prominent left-wing figure to quit X / Twitter following President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, with the writer claiming he is leaving the platform because the “atmosphere has just become too toxic.”
His accusation comes after he has been caught spreading fake news on the site.
King, who has repeatedly used his account to attack Trump and other conservative politicians, made his announcement late Thursday.
I'm leaving Twitter. Tried to stay, but the atmosphere has just become too toxic. Follow me on Threads, if you like.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) November 14, 2024
King hasn’t deleted his account as of Thursday evening.
His accusation of a “toxic” environment follows the author’s own toxic spreading of fake news.
As Breitbart News reported, the novelist incorrectly claimed in 2021 that the state of Florida had 1,200 coronavirus deaths in just one day in an apparent confusion between reported deaths and actual deaths that occurred that day.
King was referring to reports of the latest CDC figures for Florida, showing an increase of 1,296 deaths on a Thursday from the total reported a day earlier. The figure doesn’t represent deaths that occurred on that Thursday but rather deaths over an undefined period that can go back weeks.
The novelist still hasn’t deleted his incorrect tweet from 2021.
1200 dead of COVID yesterday in Florida.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) September 10, 2021
Not the total for a week or a month, but ONE SINGLE DAY.
King was at it again the following year, when he used Twitter to spread the false claim that Florida Gov. DeSantis (R) signed a bill requiring Florida students and professors to register their political views with the state.
The bestselling novelist later publicly apologized for tweeting the false claim, which came from a factually inaccuratte Salon article that was never corrected.
Prominent leftists are quitting Elon Musk’s X in droves in the wake of Trump’s resounding victory.
Hollywood star Bette Midler quit the platform the day after election day, after she suggested to her followers to drink Drano should Trump win. Fellow celeb Jamie Lee Curtis followed suit.
MSNBC’s Joy Reid has quit the platform as has former CNN personality Don Lemon.
Follow David Ng on Twitter @HeyItsDavidNg. Have a tip? Contact me at
