Left-wing author Stephen King calls fatal GOP train crash 'karma' — but his apology might be worse

After an Amtrak train carrying Republican members of Congress and their families slammed into a garbage truck Wednesday — killing one person and injuring others — left-wing author Stephen King decided to get cute on Twitter:

“A trainload of Republicans on their way to a pricey retreat hit a garbage truck,” King noted Thursday. “My friend Russ calls that karma.”

The person who died was 28-year-old Christopher Foley, a passenger in the truck owned by Time Disposal, the Washington Post reported. Six others were hospitalized following the crash near Crozet, Virginia.

King was immediately slammed for his heartless tweet, as other Twitter users called it "sad" and much worse.

And the famed novelist of "Carrie," "It" and "The Shining" hopped back on Twitter 20 minutes later in an apparent attempt to soften his original message:

Then hours later, King posted a longer kinda sorta mea culpa:

The master of the written word gave what seemed to be a gold-medal performance in verbal gymnastics — first calling his original tweet "rather thoughtless" but then wondering if his apology is "necessary."

King also pointed out that Republican politicians aboard the train "immediately got out to help" — yet still slammed them, saying they "can be heartless when they vote."

For others on Twitter, King's tweets were most definitely all she wrote:

• "Too little too late, SK," one user said. "You're off my list. ashamed to be fellow alum of UMAINE."
• "Worst 'apology' ever," another said. "I think as a writer and a human being, you could have done better."
• "Too late! Your real thoughts came through. Throwing your books in the trash. 'People' like you are why I THANK GOD that I left the democrap party in 1983. Get help!" another tweeted.

(H/T: BizPac Review)