While Stephen King is best known for his bestselling novels that have left readers sleeping with the lights on for decades, the King of Horror occasionally takes a break from penning his next masterpiece to share his thoughts on X.
King’s wit and insight have a way of cutting through the noise, and his recent musings on a certain political figure have certainly gotten people talking. In a recent tweet, he posed a seemingly innocent question about the age at which a child ceases to be a toddler. While the query may appear simple at first glance, it quickly became apparent that King’s followers saw an opportunity to draw parallels between the question and Donald Trump. Knowing King, he definitely was enquiring about the ex-president since he had just appeared live during the presidential debate and made some very tall claims.
One particularly cheeky commenter even suggested that Trump’s toddler phase might end when he finally stops wearing diapers:
Well, it seems like King got a taste of that Libra life as he waded through the deluge of witty and savage-burn replies to his question, probably at a loss to pick the ultimate winner as they all do their best to mock the convicted felon/GOP candidate.
All jokes aside, the responses to King’s tweet highlight a growing concern among many Americans about the maturity level of some of our political leaders. Case in point: The recent presidential debate between Trump and Joe Biden.
On national television, Trump boasted about being in “as good shape as he was 25, 30 years ago” and bragged that he had won two golf championships while Biden “can’t hit the ball 50 yards.” Really? Discussing personal fitness and golf skills instead of tackling pressing national issues? How very… toddler-esque. I’m not sure what’s more unbelievable – the idea that Trump hasn’t aged a day since the ’90s or that he thinks hitting a hole-in-one is a key qualification for the presidency. Biden, to his credit, challenged Trump to a golf match as he got clearly tired of the juvenile posturing.
Trump’s response? “Let’s not act like children.” Look who is talking.
Acting like a child is Trump’s default mode, especially when it comes to accepting responsibility. During the debate, when pressed about his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, Trump immediately tried to shift the blame to Biden. Yep, when a child gets caught red-handed, they point the finger at someone else and hope no one notices.
Biden, however, wasn’t having it. He called out Trump for sitting idly by for three hours while his supporters stormed the Capitol, despite the pleas of his own aides to intervene. Testimony from former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham reveals that Trump was “gleefully” watching the riot on TV.
“All I know about that day is that he was in the dining room, gleefully watching on his TV as he often did, ‘look at all of the people fighting for me,’ hitting rewind, watching it again… I know that people were trying to get him to stop it and he wouldn’t.”
Grisham said on CNN
But back to King’s original question – what is Trump’s toddler expiration date? The day he admits he lost the election… so never. But maybe when his last neuron fires its final, feeble synaptic signal? (that went pretty dark!)