The latest development in the ongoing saga of CNN vs. President Trump and vice versa on Twitter appears to have come courtesy of an unknown person who gained access to anchor Anderson Cooper’s Twitter account.
Wednesday morning, Trump tweeted about the Tuesday night election loss of Roy Moore of Alabama, who was running for U.S. Senate.
The reason I originally endorsed Luther Strange (and his numbers went up mightily), is that I said Roy Moore will not be able to win the General Election. I was right! Roy worked hard but the deck was stacked against him!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 13, 2017
Screenshots captured by various media outlets show Cooper’s Twitter account responded: “Oh Really? You endorsed him you tool! Pathetic loser.”
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The tweeted response reportedly was visible for about an hour before being taken down. Anderson then tweeted that someone had accessed his account.
just woke up to find out someone gained access to my twitter account. i have not sent a tweet in days or replied to any tweets. We are looking into how this happened.
— Anderson Cooper (@andersoncooper) December 13, 2017
Twitter would not comment Wednesday morning, and referred us to CNN’s communications team — which has tweeted that it is on the case and is working with Twitter.
This morning someone gained access to the handle @andersoncooper and replied to POTUS. We're working with Twitter to secure the account.
— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) December 13, 2017
This particular tweet war may have been hacker-induced, but it’s only the latest one between Trump and CNN or its employees. CNN is often the target of the tweeting president’s missives.
In fact, on Monday CNN responded to a tweet by the president in which he called CNN “fake news” for the umpteenth time and insulted anchor Don Lemon. “I never watch Don Lemon, who I once called the ‘dumbest man on television!’ ” read part of the president’s tweet.
In a statement, CNN said: “In a world where bullies torment kids on social media to devastating effect on a regular basis with insults and name-calling, it is sad to see our president engaging in the very same behavior himself. Leaders should lead by example.”
And in July, the president tweeted a parody of an old wrestling video showing him beating up someone with a CNN logo for a face.
Although Twitter users saw that tweet as a violation of the platform’s terms of service, Twitter allowed it to stand because it said it considered the political context of the tweet, and also said it was vague and could be interpreted in different ways.
Photo: CNN News anchor Anderson Cooper attends the Turner Network 2017 Upfront presentation at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York on May 17, 2017. (Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
Tags: Anderson Cooper, CNN, Donald Trump
