Stephen King and Elon Musk are back in a public war of words on X, and this time the horror author did not hold back. On Friday, October 30, 2026, King replied to a post from the SpaceX and Tesla chief with a short, sharp message: “Don’t be ridiculous. You sound like Trump. Next you’ll be saying ‘They’re eating the pets!’” The exchange came just days before the US midterm elections on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, and it quickly became one of the most shared political moments of the weekend.
The clash began when Musk responded to a clip shared by his America super PAC. The clip featured comments from former Vice President Kamala Harris and Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico discussing changes to the Electoral College, Supreme Court expansion, and statehood for Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico. Musk added his own warning: “Democrats will execute their plan to end democracy in America if they gain control.”
King’s reply did not argue policy. It compared Musk’s language to the rhetoric of Donald Trump, specifically the false claim Trump pushed during the September 2024 presidential debate that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, were eating pets.
Musk’s Warning About Democrats
Musk did not stop at one post. On the same day, he told his 241.5 million followers on X that his biggest concern was a Democratic trifecta — control of the House, Senate, and White House after the 2028 elections. According to Musk, that outcome “would result in America becoming a permanent one-party state and the end of democracy in any meaningful sense of the word.”
He also laid out a series of specific fears. Musk claimed Democrats would grant statehood to Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico to add Senate seats, would “open the borders and legalize everyone living in America illegally,” and would expand the Supreme Court beyond its current nine justices. He urged voters to keep at least 51 Republican senators in 2029 and said other issues were “irrelevant compared to this one.”
The numbers behind Musk’s argument are significant. The billionaire has donated nearly $475 million to Republican causes this election cycle, according to a New York Times analysis. Federal Election Commission data put the figure at least $445.77 million as of October 29, making him the largest single-cycle political donor in modern US history.
King’s Blunt Reply
King’s response was brief and direct. The author, who has 6.8 million followers on X, did not write a long thread or a detailed fact-check. He went straight for the comparison that has followed Musk for years: that the tech billionaire sounds like Trump.
The phrase “They’re eating the pets” is not a random insult. It points to one of the most widely covered moments of the 2024 presidential campaign. During a televised debate with Kamala Harris, Trump said: “In Springfield, they are eating the dogs. The people that came in, they’re eating the cats.” City officials and fact-checkers found no credible evidence for the claim.
King’s reply suggested that Musk’s warning about democracy was in the same category as that false and widely mocked statement. The comparison landed because Musk had also amplified the pet-eating rumor in September 2024, writing on X: “Apparently, people’s cats are being eaten.”
Why King Brought Up the Pet-Eating Claim
The pet-eating claim became a shorthand for false and inflammatory political rhetoric. It was pushed by Trump and his running mate JD Vance in the final weeks of the 2024 race, and it led to bomb threats against city buildings in Springfield, Ohio.
King has used the claim before. In May 2025, he criticized Trump over the same false statement on Threads. By bringing it up again in his reply to Musk, King was making a clear point: a billionaire with enormous political influence was repeating a style of claim that had already been discredited.
The author has also been consistent in his criticism of both men. In February 2025, he returned to X after a break and wrote: “Just wanted to say that Trump is a traitorous, Putin-loving dipshit! Goes double for Elon!” In June 2025, as Trump and Musk publicly fell out, King wrote: “Couple of billionaires having a hissy little catfight. Who gives a shit? The world actually has problems.”
The Texas Senate Race Behind the Clash
The argument is not only about national politics. It is also about one of the most expensive Senate races in US history. Musk has spent more than $150 million of his own money to support Republican Ken Paxton against Democrat James Talarico in Texas. Spending in the race has passed $560 million, according to the Express-News.
Talarico has made Musk a central figure in his campaign. At an October 23 rally, he said: “Elon Musk is trying to buy this Senate seat in Texas. We just found out that the richest man in the world is almost single-handedly bankrolling this effort to install Ken Paxton in the US Senate.” He added: “On November 3rd, we are going to deliver a crystal-clear message to the world’s first trillionaire. Texas is not for sale.”
King had already entered this specific fight. On October 25, after Musk called Talarico a “far-left extremist,” King replied: “Elon Musk is afraid of Talarico because he [Musk] has a lot of business in Texas. It has nothing to do with principles or programs; for Musk, it’s all about the Benjamins.” Musk shot back: “Your mental model outside of short-sighted tribalism is pathetically stupid.”
Harris Comments That Started the Argument
The clip that set off the latest exchange came from The Breakfast Club podcast and was shared by Musk’s America PAC. In the audio, Kamala Harris, the former Vice President and 2024 Democratic presidential candidate, suggested a series of structural changes. She said: “I know this is going to be controversial coming from me in particular — we need to revisit the electoral college. We need to revisit the point of expanding the court to 13 justices like we have 13 district courts. We need to revisit, if they so want, statehood for Puerto Rico and [Washington] D.C.”
Harris made similar comments in other interviews. In October 2026, she told Keke Palmer’s podcast that Democrats needed to “expand the Supreme Court” and push “what is possible around changing the Electoral College.” Those remarks have been criticized by Republicans and some legal commentators as a dangerous precedent. Y. David Scharf, a New York attorney, told Fox News Digital: “Kamala Harris says she wants to defend democracy, but her solution is to rewrite its rules when Democrats don’t like the results. That’s a dangerous precedent.”
When Talarico was played the same clip on the podcast, he said he was “really happy” that Harris was “calling for these systemic political reforms.”
Musk’s Record Midterm Spending
Musk’s political spending this cycle has broken records. The Guardian reported that his donations could fund half a dozen SpaceX rocket launches or buy thousands of Tesla Cybertrucks. His largest single contribution — $216 million — went to his own America PAC, which has targeted 43 House and Senate races across the country.
The PAC has spent heavily on attack ads. In Texas, it has put more than $33 million into efforts to elect Paxton, while Musk also contributed $168 million to the Senate Leadership Fund, which supports the same race. The group has spent $28 million on anti-Talarico content, including a Google ad that was shown more than 10 million times over eight days.
Musk has defended his involvement by framing the election as a turning point. In his October 30 post, he wrote: “All that is needed to ensure this doesn’t happen is 51 Republican senators in 2029. That is why you should vote for Republican senators this election.”
A Friendship That Turned Sour
The public feud is a long way from where the two men started. In 2019, King and Musk had friendly exchanges on Twitter about King’s Tesla. King praised the car’s “fart” feature, and Musk thanked him for owning a Tesla. The relationship shifted as Musk became more politically active and as King became more outspoken against Trump.
By 2023, King said he still owned a Tesla and admired Musk, but he called Musk’s $44 billion purchase of Twitter — now X — “ridiculous.” In 2024, King accused Musk of spreading political misinformation before the presidential election, writing: “The Musk-man has posted 3,000 times on Twitter in the last month. Most are pro-Trump disinformation and outright lies. Remember, he has skin in the game. Consider his posts accordingly.”
King has also questioned Musk’s motives in the Texas race. In October 2026, he wrote that Musk had spent $366 million to keep Republicans in control of Congress and told his followers: “Tell him in the booth that your vote isn’t for sale.”
King’s History of Criticizing Musk and Trump
The horror writer has been one of the most consistent celebrity critics of both Musk and Trump. He has called Trump a “horror story” and said the ending “should be impeachment.” He has also warned that Musk holds too much influence over Trump, describing the billionaire as someone who “pulls the strings.”
King’s political posts have not gone unnoticed. In November 2024, rumors spread that X had banned him after he insulted Musk. King dismissed the claims himself, posting: “I see there’s a rumor going around that I called the Musk-man Trump’s new first lady.” He added: “Here I am.”
Musk, for his part, once described King as “one of the most creative people on Earth.” That praise now sits alongside his October 25 reply calling King’s thinking “pathetically stupid.”
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The latest exchange between the two men is part of a larger political moment. With $445 million or more spent by Musk, a Texas Senate race that has passed $560 million, and a national midterm election just days away, the argument between a novelist and a billionaire has become a small but visible part of a much bigger fight over money, speech, and democracy in the United States.
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