In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s assassination earlier this week, Stephen King has issued an apology after claiming the conservative activist supported “stoning gays.”
The bestselling author found himself in the crosshairs after replying to a tweet from Fox News host Jesse Watters, who said Kirk was not “controversial” or “polarizing” but a patriot.
“He advocated stoning gays to death. Just sayin,” King replied on Thursday in a now-deleted tweet.
After igniting a firestorm on social media, King attempted to correct the record as tensions reached a fever pitch.
“I apologize for saying Charlie Kirk advocated stoning gays. What he actually demonstrated was how some people cherry-pick Biblical passages,” King tweeted Friday morning.
But the mea culpa wasn’t enough for Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who called King “a horrible, evil, twisted liar.”
King quickly responded to Cruz’s tweet: “The horrible, evil, twisted liar apologizes. This is what I get for reading something on Twitter w/o fact-checking. Won’t happen again.”
King later wrote: “I was wrong, and I apologize. I have deleted the post.”
X / stephenking
Stephen King has apologized for a tweet about Charlie Kirk. (X / stephenking)
The online dustup stemmed from King’s reference to comments made by Kirk in 2024, when he attacked YouTuber Ms. Rachel — known as “the internet’s toddler whisperer” — for quoting “love thy neighbor” to defend Pride Month celebrations.
The Turning Point USA founder said: “Ms. Rachel, you might wanna crack open that Bible of yours … A lesser referenced part of the same part of scripture is in Leviticus 18 [which says] thou shall lay with another man, shall be stoned to death … Just sayin.”
Kirk appeared to be referring to Leviticus 18:22, which states, “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: It is abomination.”
Leviticus 20:13 adds: “If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: They shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.”
Both verses are often used by Christians to condemn homosexuality.
