Stephen King Criticizes DeSantis For Red Tide, COVID-19 Surge

SARASOTA, FL — Outspoken horror writer Stephen King criticized Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis for his handling of the state’s COVID-19 surge and the red tide affecting the Tampa Bay area on Twitter Monday.

“DeSantis policies are right-wing ‘the individual rules and to hell with what happens’ policies. They are turning a beautiful state into a big ICU ward where even healthy people can barely breathe,” he tweeted.

King splits his time between Maine and Casey Key in Sarasota County.

New COVID-19 cases have increased significantly over the past month, largely because of the spread of the more contagious delta variant.

From July 23-29, the state reported more than 110,000 new cases from July 23-29 and an 18.1 percent new case positivity rate, according to the Florida Department of Health's COVID-19 Weekly Situation Report. There were more than 400 deaths reported during this period, as well.

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, on Saturday, Florida reported its highest number of new coronavirus cases in a single day — 21,683 cases — since the pandemic started.

Related Story: Florida Posts Record Number Of New Coronavirus Cases: CDC

King also tweeted Monday, “Hey, Florida—here's your man Ron DeSantis: Not only are COVID infections in Florida sky high, the beaches are almost uninhabitable due to red tide from the Piney Point disaster, and the fish kill is in the mega tons.”

The recent red tide bloom crisis has affected the entire Tampa Bay region with the harmful algae bloom moving throughout the local bays and along the Gulf Coast beaches. Red tide can cause respiratory and other health issues in people and pets visiting affected beaches and kill fish and other marine animals in the water

Related Story: Rescued Manatee Sickened By Red Tide Under Care At ZooTampa

Some experts say that Manatee County’s crisis at Piney Point in April, when the former phosphate processing plant saw a significant wastewater breach, has contributed to the region’s current red tide problem. More than 200 million gallons of untreated wastewater was discharged directly into Tampa Bay to prevent a wall of contaminated water from flooding homes and businesses in the area.

This isn’t the first time King has used social media to criticize DeSantis. In February, he slammed the governor for using pop-up vaccine clinics in Manatee County's wealthiest ZIP codes for "political gain."

In March, the author called DeSantis “a tool” for wanting flags flown at half-staff as a tribute for Rush Limbaugh, the late conservative talk radio host.

King released his latest book, “Billy Summers,” a crime thriller about an assassin, Tuesday through Scribner.