CNN's Anderson Cooper says hacker called Trump a 'pathetic loser' from his verified Twitter
CNN’s Anderson Cooper appeared to attack President Trump as a “pathetic loser” in a Wednesday morning tweet, but the liberal network’s biggest star says he was hacked and denies sending the derogatory message.
Trump sent an early-morning tweet regarding Tuesday’s special election in Alabama, pointing out that he originally endorsed Luther Strange in the primary because he didn’t feel Roy Moore would win the General Election (Trump endorsed Moore once he became the Republican nominee.
Cooper’s verified account responded to the president, “Oh really? You endorsed him you tool! Pathetic loser.”
Cooper eventually deleted the tweet and sent a new message, claiming he was asleep and “just woke up to find out someone gained access to my twitter account.”
“We are looking into how this happened,” he said shortly before CNN issued its own statement.
“This morning someone gained access to the handle @andersoncooper and replied to POTUS. We're working with Twitter to secure the account,” CNN tweeted.
Twitter declined comment when asked if the company was working with CNN to figure out who allegedly hacked Cooper’s verified account. The Twitter spokesman ignored several requests for additional information, referring Fox News to CNN’s communications team.
CNN did not respond when asked if the alleged perpetrator was identified or if the investigation is still ongoing. CNN did eventually provide a statement to the Washington Post, claiming the tweet was sent from Cooper’s assistant’s phone after it was left unattended at a gym.
CNN statement on @andersoncooper tweet says it was sent from NYC while AC was in D.C. pic.twitter.com/ngFlByFeQp
— ErikWemple (@ErikWemple) December 13, 2017
While opinion hosts such as MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow and Fox News’ Sean Hannity offer scathing commentary on a regular basis, Anderson is portrayed as a down-the-middle newsman. He even moderated a 2016 presidential debate between Trump and Hillary Clinton.
Because of Cooper’s alleged bi-partisanship, the initial tweet took the Internet by storm. Cooper is the face of CNN, the network that has an ongoing feud with President Trump. While Trump often refers to CNN as “fake news,” a personal attack from the network’s biggest star would have presumably escalated the beef to new heights.
Earlier this week, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders shut downCNN’s Senior White House Correspondent Jim Acosta when the reporter tried to hijack a press briefing with grandstanding – which has become a signature move of Acosta.
CNN also had to issue a correction on Friday after The Washington Post debunked the network's report claiming the Trump campaign had early, secret access to hacked DNC emails from WikiLeaks. The network on Friday inaccurately trumpeted that Congressional investigators obtained a mysterious 2016 email that was sent to Trump and other top aides, including Donald Trump Jr., which contained information on how to get a sneak peek at hacked information that WikiLeaks had acquired. The email, as CNN reported, offered a “decryption key” to access the files – but the network botched the date on the email, rendering the entire report irrelevant.
On Monday, CNN backtracked a report from earlier this year that faulted Attorney General Jeff Sessions for failing to reveal meetings he had with Russian officials when he applied for his security clearance – a disclosure he wasn’t required to make. CNN also was widely mocked on Monday morning for a segment on Trump’s soda intake amid unfolding breaking news related to the terror attack in New York City.
Brian Flood covers the media for Fox News. Follow him on Twitter at @briansflood.