Help keep Salon independent

Stephen King courts MAGA outrage with “Epstein list” denial

That's one layup gift for your conservative dad down

Nights and Weekends Editor

Published

President Barack Obama presents author Stephen King with the 2014 National Medal of Arts at The White House on September 10, 2015 in Washington, DC. (Leigh Vogel/WireImage/Getty Images)
President Barack Obama presents author Stephen King with the 2014 National Medal of Arts at The White House on September 10, 2015 in Washington, DC. (Leigh Vogel/WireImage/Getty Images)

Stephen King has a message for Donald Trump voters who feel disillusioned by his administration’s handling of the case files on Jeffrey Epstein: Grow up.

The prolific author is also a generous social media poster, and he’s spent years criticizing Trump’s actions. He found himself in agreement with the president on Tuesday, as outrage grew over a Department of Justice memo that denied the existence of a client list for the late sex trafficker. Much like Trump, who tried to hand-wave away the story last week, King couldn’t believe that people hadn’t moved beyond the scandal.

“The Epstein client list is real,” he wrote on X. “So is the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus.”

The response from the author didn’t sway online conservatives and conspiracists. Instead it led them to reiterate that the list exists and speculate that King is on it.  Others who weren’t willing to go that far in their accusations merely pointed out a post from 2019 from King about Epstein’s suicide in a Manhattan jail.

“A lot of powerful people are breathing a sigh of relief over Epstein’s ‘suicide,'” he wrote in 2019.

In its memo, the Department of Justice concluded that there was no foul play in the financier’s death.

The controversy was given a second wind by legislators on Tuesday. House Democrats attempted to force the issue and demand the release of DOJ files on Epstein. The legislation from California Rep. Ro Khanna would have forced Attorney General Pam Bondi to share the files within 30 days. The House Rules Committee narrowly blocked the measure from reaching the floor in a 6-5 vote that was almost entirely split down party lines.

By Alex Galbraith

Alex Galbraith is Salon's nights and weekends editor, and author of our free daily newsletter, Crash Course. He is based in New Orleans.


Related Topics ------------------------------------------

Related Articles