In typical elitist fashion, there is a happy ending…for himself, of course.

While no one is pretending that prolific wordsmith Stephen King is anything approaching a medical authority, the famed author is espousing some commonly spread fables on Twitter regarding the way the state of Florida is handling the pandemic. He recently offered up some details which defy both reported data and common sense, but being a celebrity of sorts means many are repeating his fictional account of things.

To offer some backstory (a dramatic device), understand that for numerous months, the state has been promised to be a hotbed of viral contagion. There has been no shortage of promised super spreader events — unlocking the economy, kids back in schools, theme parks reopening, holiday travel, the Super Bowl, the CPAC conference, and the recent Daytona Bike Week. What has been in short supply is any signs of the assured outbreaks, as the state has seen declining figures since New Years’ with no spikes. 

Absent this proof the press, in their desire to demonize Governor Ron DeSantis, has turned to a new explanation, one that the author King has latched onto. See, the reason that Florida is not seeing these dire COVID numbers? We are shipping out all of the cases of Coronavirus!

Florida’s chief exports: Oranges and coronavirus. Lots of tourists take home plenty of both when their vacations are over.

— Stephen King (@StephenKing) March 17, 2021

This facile explaining away of disproven data seems to ignore a few basic concepts. In order to seed the country with cases, there still needs to be a significant measurable amount of infections. Also, the claim is hindered by the fact that no one seems to be able to note the evidence that shows how much this is actually happening. Oh, and one other matter — when it came to spreading the COVID-19 virus, the primary source for outward spread happened to be — New York City.

We see that King doesn't save it for his novels – he continues to write fiction on Twitter as well.

per NYT: https://t.co/RdHNevnVaF pic.twitter.com/Hax7SXZPNM

— Brad Slager- Tavernus Bourbonicus Neanderthal (@MartiniShark) March 19, 2021

Recall, in the early days of the arrival of the virus, that Washington State was seen as the landing spot. But soon enough, when cases were found in New York, that location became the primary launching pad for seeding the contagion across the country. As the New York Times indicated:

Early analysis of genetic samples indicates that more infections across the country came from a line of the virus associated with the outbreak in New York City, than from a line associated with the outbreak in Washington State.

So in typical media fashion, the detrimental results from that city and state are bypassed in order to lay blame at the feet of a state with a Republican running the show. He also has fallen into the rabbit hole repeating the claims that DeSantis is distributing the vaccines to primarily GOP supporters, something that has been roundly debunked. Stephen King is lapsing into the practice of politicizing the virus, but there is another component to his critique needing to be pointed out. King is not basing this on a regional bias; in fact, he is exposed as making these kinds of statements on purely political grounds. King is, in truth, very close to the truth.

Tellingly, while the writer is lambasting the actions in the State of Florida regarding COVID-19, he is actually seeing favorable results from the process. While he wants to insist favoritism is at play with the governor, somehow just a couple of weeks back, he announced he received his second dose of the Moderna vaccine. Care to wager where King was when he became fully vaccinated?

Funny, Stephen King doesn’t hate EVERYTHING about Florida’s Covid response — pic.twitter.com/dk56rUhT5o

— Brad Slager- Tavernus Bourbonicus Neanderthal (@MartiniShark) March 19, 2021

And thus, the man who enjoys slandering the leadership of the State of Florida over the COVID response is actually a resident, and he has benefitted from the programs. Not too surprising that the famous horror writer would strive to gain more attention by delivering scary plotlines. Also in keeping with his career, what he is delivering here is pure fiction.