It’s been a rough day for the editorial office of The Washington Examiner, a conservative American magazine, since its Twitter was hacked by someone who posted a message disparaging of both President Donald Trump and the newspaper.
“Trump is going to hell. Anyone who ever read the bible can tell you where it stands on rich adulterers. The key to God’s forgiveness is repentance. Trump’s entire political career has been about the exact opposite of that. Also this paper is garbage for promoting ‘Trump and God’,” the tweet read.
The media outlet deleted the post and tweeted that its account had been hacked…
The Washington Examiner’s Twitter feed was hacked and a tweet was posted that did not come from our staff. We are taking appropriate action and will issue a further statement if necessary.
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) 5 ноября 2018 г.
…but it was too little, too late: it couldn’t go unnoticed since eagle-eyed netizens were quick to take screenshots of the original message and start sharing it Twitter-wide – and that’s when the madness began:
Happy Monday morning to the editors at the Washington Examiner! pic.twitter.com/AzVLIgI7nL
— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) 5 ноября 2018 г.
the washington examiner had two scotches too many last night pic.twitter.com/TzZOhkJmXL
— Bobby Lewis (@revrrlewis) 5 ноября 2018 г.
Taken down now, but not forgotten pic.twitter.com/cbbNBqOrvA
— Dave Clark (@DaveClark_AFP) 5 ноября 2018 г.
Somebody at the Washington Examiner woke up… with a Twitter password. pic.twitter.com/1GlKfBlBnM
— David Catanese (@davecatanese) 5 ноября 2018 г.
Well, let's take a look at the Washington Examiner Twitter feed this morni pic.twitter.com/60Gv3geBQI
— MeltLikeButta (@jwbutta) 5 ноября 2018 г.
One user posted two screenshots of both tweets with two emojis – a bucket of popcorn and a glass of wine – apparently meaning that he was ready to closely follow the developments:
The Washington Examiner was "hacked." It's going to be a crazy day.🍿🍷 pic.twitter.com/v8RPtQI7Lo
— Christopher Bouzy (@cbouzy) 5 ноября 2018 г.
Reacting to The Washington Examiner’s second tweet, another user said the original message was “awesome” and asked to put it back on the feed…
But it was awesome!! Put it back! Put it back!! pic.twitter.com/m5UN911hts
— kimberly #BeKindToElephants #loveisloveislove (@kimijtoo) 5 ноября 2018 г.
…while a fellow user suggested The Washington Examiner hire that hacker:
The appropriate action would be to hire the hacker on a permanent basis.
— Dara (@daralynn13) 5 ноября 2018 г.
Wondering who may have hacked the account, whether it was a disgruntled ex-employer or a tech guru, one of the netizens alleged that it was an intern who quit his job earlier in the morning…
Somewhere, an intern quit this morning and this was their good-bye note…
— Ooooohhh, Rob… (@RobinKLowe) 5 ноября 2018 г.
…but another Twitterian saw it as a divine intervention:
GOD hacked you and sent that message
— hunting4witches (@Gangl_Gang) 5 ноября 2018 г.
The hacking of The Washington Examiner, owned by billionaire entrepreneur Philip Anschutz, came a day before the midterm elections for the US Congress.
