Stephen King’s comments on the Donald Trump debate go viral: “Barking Mad”

During the televised presidential debate on Tuesday night, author Stephen King once again took aim at former President Donald Trump.

Trump and his Democratic opponent Kamala Harris took part in a heated televised debate broadcast by Pennsylvania's ABC network, and there was no shortage of comments from internet users throughout the 90-minute contest.

King, a frequent Trump critic, was one of them. He wrote during the debate on X, formerly Twitter: “Trump sounds completely insane.” The post was viewed more than a million times and liked by 68,000 accounts.

Newsweek contacted Trump's campaign team by email outside of normal working hours and asked for a response.

Other X users joined King in his response. One account posting under the name Political wrote in response to King: “He is literally insane. Trump is not well, he is dangerous, he must be voted against decisively in November.”

Another, Perry Masonry, posted: “He is insane. I hope the American people realize what a completely unstable nutcase he is.”

Others sided with the former president, with Sandy Author writing, “He expresses the feelings of most Americans – those who don't live in a bubble like you.”

Another, Sue, said the former president “should” be angry. “We need someone who will fight for this country and not let the communists take over,” they wrote.

King followed up his initial post with more observations. “Notice how red he is turning,” he wrote in a follow-up post. In another post, King responded to a user who said ABC anchors David Muir and Linsey Davis were “not moderating,” writing, “You gave Trump a disproportionate amount of time to mansplain.”

Others disagreed with King, saying Trump was debating not only Harris, but also Muir and Davis. One user wrote, “This is a three-verse debate where Trump still wins.”

Another, Lori Love, noted: “They disproportionately fact-checked Trump's statements and let Kamala lie unhindered.”

However, King's observation was still supported. “That's okay, he is his own worst enemy, let's let the madman show his true face for all to see,” replied Nicolas River.

During the debate, the Republican candidate made unsubstantiated claims that immigrants in Ohio were eating other people's pets, which sparked significant backlash online.

“A lot of towns don't want to talk about it because they're so embarrassed. In Springfield, they eat the dogs,” Trump said. The people who came here. They eat the cats. They eat – they eat the pets of the people who live there. And that's what's happening in our country. And it's a disgrace.”

Earlier this week, rumors that Haitian immigrants were killing and eating dogs and cats emerged, originating from a Facebook post and spread online by several conservative commentators.

A Springfield police spokesman told Reuters on Tuesday: “In response to recent rumors of criminal activity by the immigrant population in our city, we want to clarify that there are no credible reports or specific allegations that pets belonging to individuals from the immigrant community have been harmed, injured or mistreated.”