Author Stephen King is backpedaling after deleting an inflammatory post about late TPUSA founder and CEO, Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated on September 10 at a stop on "The American Comeback Tour" in Orem, Utah.
After news of Kirk's passing broke, Fox News host Jesse Watters posted on X that, "Charlie Kirk was not a 'controversial' or 'polarizing' man. Charlie was a PATRIOT. THIS is a turning point and we all need to turn in the right direction. Rest in peace, my friend."
King quoted that post and replied, "He advocated stoning gays to death. Just sayin'."
This led to a massive backlash, including from Dave Rubin, who posted a screenshot of King's now-deleted post and this response: "Hey @StephenKing, you are more monstrous than any of the characters you ever came up with. Charlie was never anything but kind to me and my husband. We broke bread many times, and he never treated us with anything other than respect. He even came to our house not too long ago and plot twist, didn’t throw rocks at us. Write about that sometime, you hack."
Now King is apologizing.
I apologize for saying Charlie Kirk advocated stoning gays. What he actually demonstrated was how some people cherry-pick Biblical passages.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) September 12, 2025
Some people welcomed King's apology, hoping he learned a lesson from posting vile things on social media. This includes Guy Benson:
I strongly suspect Charlie would have accepted this apology and invited you to come talk with him. I hope you think about that. https://t.co/xbvk2SgvN7
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) September 12, 2025
King also quoted Senator Ted Cruz, who called King "a horrible, evil, twisted liar" who was "dishonest & filled with hate" after the original post, and King reiterated his apology:
The horrible, evil, twisted liar apologizes. This is what I get for reading something on Twitter w/o fact-checking. Won't happen again. https://t.co/L7fL2Ml4eR
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) September 12, 2025
There were more apologies from King, too.
I have apologized. Charlie Kirk never advocated stoning gays to death. https://t.co/Mezem81TNg
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) September 12, 2025
No, he didn't.
I was wrong, and I apologize. I have deleted the post. https://t.co/v6NOIUGEvS
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) September 12, 2025
This is not the first time King has posted something inflammatory and divisive on X. He's said it won't happen again, and we'll see if that's true or not.