Stephen King slammed for 'insensitive' Melania Trump joke

Horror author Stephen King has been slammed for what has been described as an 'insensitive' joke about First Lady Melania Trump's recent kidney surgery.

Melania, 48, underwent surgery on Monday for a benign kidney condition.

She is expected to remain in hospital for the remainder of the week.

King tweeted shortly after the White House announcement about the surgery, writing, "Not to be snarky, but Melania can probably use a week's rest from Blabbermouth Don. Sounds heavenly to me."

He was immediated accused of being 'insensitive' and 'inappropriate'.

"Where is the civility?" one user asked.

Another said, "Cruel, shame!"

"How disgraceful," another person tweeted.

Late night US TV host Jimmy Fallon also joked about the surgery, saying that when Melania's doctor told her she could go home she wasn't in any rush.

"She was like, 'No pressure, make sure.'"

While their humour was aimed at US President Donald Trump, they were still called out for bad timing.

No updates have been given about Melania's condition since the announcement earlier this week and she hasn't been seen publicly since Wednesday at a White House event where she and Trump honoured military mothers and spouses for Mother's Day, before joining the president at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland to welcome home three American detanees who had been freed from North Korea.

Stephen King is yet to comment on the criticism.