Stephen King has branded Donald Trump a "horrible president" and a "horrible person"

Stephen told The Times newspaper: "I happen to think that Trump was a horrible president and is a horrible person.

"I think he actually engaged in criminal behaviour, I felt that he was a sociopath who tried to overturn the American democracy not out of any political wish of his own but because he could not admit that he had lost."

The 'Carrie' author is puzzled that some continue to support Trump but thinks "most people" are well-intentioned, regardless of their political views.

Stephen said: "So, I don't really understand the people who continue to support him, but I do understand that a guy driving a pickup covered with Trump and NRA stickers - you know, 'take my rifle when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers'- would stop and pick up a stranger if he was in a rainstorm and say, 'Where are you going, buddy?'"

King also claimed that is "easy to overestimate" the rise of fascism in the United States.

The 74-year-old 'It' author said: "There is a strong right wing, a political right wing in America, and they have a megaphone in some of the media. They're not fascists but they're hard right-wingers.

"They're certainly climate change deniers, so that is a real problem. But, again, it's the stuff that's crazy like QAnon that gets the press. You have to remember that Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump by three million votes (in the popular vote) and that Biden beat Trump by seven million votes."