Stephen King's Tweet About Vladimir Putin And Joe Biden Didn't Age Well Amid Growing Ukraine Crisis

Notable horror fiction author Stephen King was active on Twitter this Tuesday, posting a tweet about how Russian President Vladimir Putin has made a "serious miscalculation" regarding the absence of former U.S. President Donald Trump and the presence of current President Joe Biden during the ongoing 2021-2022 Russia-Ukraine conflict, which many are now deeming the potential start of World War 3.

On Tuesday, Stephen King was quoted in a tweet saying, "Mr. Putin has made a serious miscalculation. He forgot he's no longer dealing with Trump," earning roughly 142,900 likes in two days. At first, the tweet read as cringeworthy to some, mostly on the political right who urged their belief that Trump was in fact stronger than Biden, citing claims that Putin never invaded anywhere when Trump was in office.

Of course, the tweets shown above were posted before the most recent development in the Russia-Ukraine crisis: Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine following explosions in Kyiv and Kharkiv late last night. Officially revealed in a tweet from Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba, Russia had invaded Eastern Ukraine, starting when Putin called a “special military operation" in a televised speech given last night.

In turn, this prompted a response from President Biden, who said in a tweet, "President Putin has chosen a premeditated war that will bring a catastrophic loss of life and human suffering," ushering in multiple worried reactions from Twitter followers. However, the discourse circled back to Stephen King's tweet, which many revisited to troll, further alienating King's statement and posting memes about it post-Russian invasion.

The criticism against Stephen King came en masse after he posted a follow-up tweet following Russia's invasion, essentially supporting military advances from the U.S. when stating, "What most of us learned as kids on the playground: You don't stand by while a big kid beats up a little kid. You might take a punch or two making the big kid stop, but that's the right thing to do." Internet users and meme creators from both sides of the political aisle found both tweets in opposition with each other, labeling King a hypocrite in multiple, humorous ways.

Regardless, the ongoing crisis that has escalated within the past 24 hours is only causing memes and tweets as a defense mechanism. It seems the Western world is largely anxious this time around and whether it's Trump or Biden that many are looking to for leadership, everyone seems to secretly hope that the leader in charge will make the right choices despite shitposts levying criticism.