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That's the gist of an open letter that's doing the rounds Tuesday, signed by King and more than 600 of his fellow well-known American writers. The luminaries include Cheryl Strayed, Dave Eggers, Junot Diaz, Amy Tan, Mary Roach, Tobias Wolff, Richard Russo, Michael Chabon and Roy Blount, Jr.
"As writers, we are particularly aware of the many ways that language can be abused in the name of power," the letter reads. "American history, despite periods of nativism and bigotry, has from the first been a grand experiment in bringing people of different backgrounds together, not pitting them against one another."
"The rise of a political candidate who deliberately appeals to the basest and most violent elements in society, who encourages aggression among his followers, shouts down opponents, intimidates dissenters, and denigrates women and minorities, demands, from each of us, an immediate and forceful response."
The list of signatories includes more than 10 Pulitzer Prize winners — but it's also astonishingly geographically diverse, with authors from the heartland more than holding their own against authors from the coasts.
It's also growing fast, with more than 150 names being added to the list since it was first published online Tuesday morning.
A Twitter account called Writers On Trump has been set up by the letter's creators, novelists Andrew Altschul and Mark Slouka. There's also an online petition that anyone can sign; it currently boasts more than 3,000 signatures.
No word yet on whether King will make Trump the villain in his next novel; America may not be ready for something that terrifying.
Reader Comments
Election entertainment: this year, it's a horror movie: Trumpzilla vs. Clintonstein.
Whereas, the ones who disguise and lie about it are better?
Let's remember here our butts are on the line with the Nato plot to construct a global war.
Who do you think is most likely to obstruct that plan? Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton?
Refresh my memory here, but isn't Hillary Clinton the one in bed with the existing paradigm?
Donald Trump says what he feels like saying. Why shouldn't he, he doesn't have to grovel for anyone else's approval.
Like it or not, Donald Trump, elected or not, may force a crisis upon an outdated corrupt system.
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The United States is quickly becoming the Untied States of America. The nation is divided and it's not been more divided right down the middle literally.
Whatever happens in November will be a mistake. Whatever happens will be the doings of the rich who control the political and legal infrastructures of the Western Seaboard States of California, Oregon, and Washington, with the rest of the nation pinned between the overlords of the Eastern Seaboard in New York and its' stooge outposts which surround it.
Regardless of the electoral votes, the land mass between these two whip masters will rebel and the Union will disolve. Count on it. A Hillary or Cruz President means revolution if it doesn't mean thermonuclear war outright.
This is not to be construed as raving support for anyone, but it is what I sense.