Gaiman's response was just the perfect amount of classy and snark.

I like "pencil-necked weasel". It has "pencil" in it. Pencils are good things. You can draw or write things with pencils. I think it's what you call someone when you're worried that using a long word like "intellectual" may have too many syllables. It's not something that people who have serious, important things to say call other people.

I do not know whether this man is calling me "a thief" because:

A) I charged more than he's comfortable with for a talk, or
B) People happily pay me a lot of money to come and give talks, or
C) He thinks I gave the talk wearing a stripy sweater to an audience of people who were there at gunpoint and afterwards took their wallets, or
D) He's against the principles of the Free Market, and feels that governments should regulate how much people are paid to talk in public.

But the whole thing is quite stupid. They offered to pay Neil Gaiman in exchange for services and he accepted. How exactly is that stealing? Also, how is it a good idea for a politician to go insulting someone with no political association, but a hugely devoted fanbase? How was that going to end well?