Stephen King slams Trump's 'wishy-washy' handling of coronavirus, says it is almost impossible to comprehend
Author Stephen King has slammed US President Donald Trump for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic saying his response is "almost impossible to comprehend".
King also took a dig at the POTUS as he thinks Trump is very indecisive at a time when the country is grappling with the pandemic.
“It’s almost impossible to comprehend. I remember back in the 1970s when Republicans laughed at Jimmy Carter as being indecisive and wishy-washy. The President we have now, and [Republican governor] Rob DeSantis here in Florida, these are supposed to be go-to-it guys, the guys you want in charge when something really goes wrong because they don’t waffle, they don’t wishy-washy,” King told CNN as he spoke about the President’s actions amid the fight against the deadly virus.
The 72-year-old continued, “You had Trump at first saying, ‘This isn’t really very serious, don’t worry, everything’s going to be OK,’ then when the stock market starts to die, when the reality of the thing hits home, he’s talking about, ‘Well, take it easy. This thing is going to be like a miracle, everything’s going to be OK by Easter and we’ll have the churches full.”
“And then a couple of days later he talks about a quarantine. [New York governor] Andrew Cuomo didn’t know about it, nobody really seemed to know, it just came out of his head,” King added.
He also talked about his 1979 novel ‘The Stand’, which is about a deadly influenza pandemic that killed most of the human race. “Just in the last three or four weeks people are saying to me, ‘We are living in a Stephen King world,’ and boy, all I can say is I wish we weren’t. This has been waiting in the wings for a long, long time." “The fact that nobody really seemed prepared still mystifies me,” King remarked.
Meanwhile, Trump has also been mocked and condemned as he boasted about the kind of rating his daily press briefings were drawing by comparing it with 'The Bachelor' — a popular reality show — and 'Monday Night Football' — a sports program.
Taking to Twitter, the 45th US president said: “President Trump is a ratings hit. Since reviving the daily White House briefing Mr Trump and his coronavirus updates have attracted an average audience of 8.5 million on cable news, roughly the viewership of the season finale of 'The Bachelor’”. “Numbers are continuing to rise. On Monday, nearly 12.2 million people watched Mr Trump’s briefing on CNN, Fox News and MSNBC, according to Nielsen — ‘Monday Night Football’ numbers. Millions more are watching on ABC, CBS, NBC, and online streaming sites, and the audience is expanding,” he said in a series of tweets on March 29.
Following his self-bragging, several including famous personalities took to social media to criticize him. Brian Tyler Cohen, who hosts a political show on YouTube, said, “Holy sh*t. e’s still going on about ratings.”
Actress Alyssa Milano tweeted: "He’s tweeting about his ratings in the middle of a pandemic. “This is the most hurtful President of our time. I don’t understand how anyone can support him. If you do, please open your eyes and heart to those who are suffering *because of* of him. Request a mail-in ballot now."
While Radio show host David Pakman said, "He's comparing his press briefings about coronavirus to The Bachelor. People aren't watching for entertainment, they're watching more and more because people are getting sick and dying, and he thinks it's a sign of his popularity."