Stephen King has once again proven himself a master of the online comeback.
The prolific author – known for novels such as The Shining (1977), It (1986), and Misery (1987) – got into a dispute with conservative US commentator Dan Bongino after Bongino suggested that King was a “jobless loser” in a heated exchange earlier this week.
On Wednesday (10 May), Bongino shared a post with his 4.2 million Twitter followers, reading: “Biden is a disgrace to humankind. An embarrassment to the human race in every respect.”
King responded with a laughing emoji and the words: “Yes. But he’s got a real job, not a podcast.”
Bongino, a former New York police officer who previously presented the show Unfiltered on Fox News until exiting the network in April this year, hosts a podcast titled The Dan Bongino Show.
“Yeah, you’re right. Millions of listeners a day on a podcast while you’re watching porn in your momma’s basement yearning for the days that people actually gave a s*** about your dumb a***,” responded Bongino.
“Nice comeback dips***. Get a job loser.”
Bongino was inundated with comments pointing out that King is one of the most recognisable, acclaimed, and frequently adapted authors in the world.
“How do you unironically tell one of the most popular contemporary writers to get a job??? LMAO dude probably sold more books and had more people watch movies and TV shows based on his work than you ever will,” wrote one fan.
King himself has since responded to Bongino’s incendiary comments.
The author, 75, replied and deliberately misspelt Bongino’s name, writing: “Looks to me like this Dan Bongo person got punked.”
In April, King – a vocal critic of Elon Musk’s decision to remove free verification status – was one of the many celebrities to be confused as to why they still had a “blue tick”.
The author tweeted: “My Twitter account says I’ve subscribed to Twitter Blue. I haven’t. My Twitter account says I’ve given a phone number. I haven’t.”
In response to King, Musk wrote: “You’re welcome namaste.”
It has since emerged that the Twitter CEO paid for King’s verification status, in a move that many believe was designed to “punish” the author for his past criticism of Musk. The Twitter CEO did the same thing for William Shatner and LeBron James.
King currently still retains his blue tick verification badge on Twitter.
