Stephen King said in an interview that he expects some supporters of former President Donald Trump will one day deny they voted for him, and the White House responded sharply, calling King a fiction writer who lacks "a grasp on reality."
King, 77, made the prediction in remarks to The Sunday Times in which he invoked an anecdote about the famed baseball "shot heard 'round the world" by Bobby Thomson to illustrate how collective memory can be reshaped over time. "There are… tens of thousands of people who will say, 'I saw Bobby Thomson hit that home run,' and there were only, like, 5,000 people in the stands that day," King said. "So I think the opposite is true [with Trump]. Twenty or 30 years down the line, when I’ll be dead and you’ll be old, I think a lot of people are going to say, 'Well, I never voted for Trump.'"
King, the author of novels including Carrie and a frequent critic of Trump, framed the remark as an observation about collective memory rather than a legal or electoral claim. His comments appeared in a broader profile in the U.K. newspaper that addressed cultural and political themes.
The White House offered a brisk rebuttal. "Since Stephen has spent so long writing fiction, it’s understandable that he’d have no grasp on reality," White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson told Fox News. The exchange continued a pattern in which public figures' comments draw direct replies from administration spokespeople.
King has been publicly critical of Trump for years, often using interviews and social media to voice opposition. Trump, a two-time president, remains a polarizing figure whose supporters and detractors have repeatedly clashed in public forums and social commentary.
Observers say the back-and-forth between prominent cultural figures and political offices is not unusual in the current media environment, where remarks in international publications can quickly elicit responses across U.S. news outlets and official channels. The White House response underscored the administration's readiness to rebut criticism from high-profile commentators.
King's comment invoked the broader sociological phenomenon of how collective memory can diverge from documented fact, while the White House reply focused on discrediting the messenger. Both statements came through media interviews rather than official reports or new evidence, and neither offered data to support predictions about how future voters will recount their past choices.
The exchange illustrates the intersection of culture and politics in public discourse and the speed with which media statements can provoke official pushback. The remarks from King and the White House are the latest in a string of public interactions involving prominent cultural figures and the administration.