Stephen King, Cheryl Strayed Sign Open Letter Condemning Donald Trump

Stephen King, Cheryl Strayed and Junot Diaz are among the 400 authors who have lent their name to an online letter condemning Donald Trump. Photo: pinguino k/Flickr

Stephen King, Wild author Cheryl Strayed, Junot Diaz, Michael Chabon and Jennifer Egan are among the 400 writers who have lent their name to an online letter condemning Donald Trump. In “An Open Letter to the American People” on Lit Hub, the authors write that they “oppose, unequivocally, the candidacy of Donald J. Trump for the Presidency of the United States.”

The letter explains why the authors ”“ as well as 8,000 additional petition signers ”“ oppose the mogul’s candidacy. “Because 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,” they write.

“Because, as writers, we are particularly aware of the many ways that language can be abused in the name of power; Because we believe that any democracy worthy of the name rests on pluralism, welcomes principled disagreement and achieves consensus through reasoned debate,” they wrote. “Because 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; Because the history of dictatorship is the history of manipulation and division, demagoguery and lies.”

Horror master King has been similarly critical of Trump on his Twitter, writing in December, “Donald Trump is like the crazy, ranting uncle you hope your friends will never meet.”

“How’s this for a Trump campaign slogan: IF YOU’RE WHITE, YOU’RE ALL RIGHT! ANY OTHER HUE, I DON’T TRUST YOU,” King tweeted in August. As it became clear that Trump would secure the Republican nomination, a resigned King tweeted, “I can no longer tweet about Trump. That anyone in America would even CONSIDER voting for this rabid coyote leaves me speechless.”