JK Rowling works her magic after Donald Trump blocks Stephen King on Twitter
Harry Potter author steps in after thriller writer becomes the latest to be #blockedbytrump
JK Rowling has come to the rescue of fellow author Stephen King after Donald Trump reportedly blocked the Carrie author from his Twitter feed.
On Tuesday, King, 69, tweeted he could no longer follow the US President on the social network site.
Trump apparently took action after a tweet about his daughter, Ivanka:
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
However, no sooner had news of the blocking gone out, than Harry Potter novelist Rowling stepped in and offered to keep King informed of the President's tweets.
King has long been an active critic of Trump. Last September, during a Facebook Live interview with Ron Charles, editor of the Washington Post’s Book World, the author said a Trump presidency "scares me more than anything else".
He added: "I'm terrified that he’ll become president."
Once his fears were realised, King began critiquing and mocking Trump on Twitter.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
After the President accused his predecessor Barack Obama of wiretapping him, the author wrote:
King isn't the only critic Trump has blocked. According to Heavy, he has stopped the likes of progressive military veterans advocacy group @VoteVets and Forbes journalist Rob Szcerba, who took part in the #cofveve memes, from viewing his posts.
Indeed, the President's habit of blacklisting critics is so common that blockees proudly share the hashtag #blockedbytrump.
However, questions have been raised over whether his actions are constitutional or not.
USA Today reports that non-profit group Knight First Amendment Institute has called on Trump to unblock users or face legal action.
It argues that the President's Twitter account "operates as a 'designated public forum' for First Amendment purposes" and accordingly it is unconstitutional to block users for their views.
-
Film review: ‘The Choral’Feature Ralph Fiennes plays a demanding aesthete
-
Political cartoons for January 19Cartoons Monday's political cartoons include Greenland tariffs, fighting the Fed, and more
-
Spain’s deadly high-speed train crashThe Explainer The country experienced its worst rail accident since 2013, with the death toll of 39 ‘not yet final’
-
Can Starmer continue to walk the Trump tightrope?Today's Big Question PM condemns US tariff threat but is less confrontational than some European allies
-
A new serif in town: Trump’s font culture warIn the Spotlight As the State Department shifts from Calibri to Times New Roman, is this just a ‘typographic dispute’, or the ‘latest battleground’ of a culture war
-
Trump threatens Minnesota with Insurrection ActSpeed Read The law was passed in 1807 but has rarely been used
-
The high street: Britain’s next political battleground?In the Spotlight Mass closure of shops and influx of organised crime are fuelling voter anger, and offer an opening for Reform UK
-
Why is Trump threatening defense firms?Talking Points CEO pay and stock buybacks will be restricted
-
‘The security implications are harder still to dismiss’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Judge clears wind farm construction to resumeSpeed Read The Trump administration had ordered the farm shuttered in December over national security issues
-
Trump DOJ targets Fed’s Powell, drawing pushbackSpeed Read Powell called the investigation ‘unprecedented’