On Thursday, the New York Post revealed that its Twitter account was hacked.
All morning the Twitter account had been posting pictures of fake articles, including a fake headline about Rep. Lee Zeldin threatening to rape New York Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Before 10 a.m., the NY Post acknowledged the hack and announced an investigation into the cause. By 10:45 a.m., the paper reportedly identified the hacker as a disgruntled employee and fired him or her.
But Hochul’s team used the news anyway for political gain.
Jen Goodman, Hochul’s communications director, went on Twitter to “demand answers” from the Post and to smear the paper as “an ugly, toxic conversation.”
“The New York Post has long fostered an ugly, toxic conversation on their front pages and social accounts, but these posts are more disgusting and vile than usual,” Hochul’s staffer tweeted.
“The New York Post needs to immediately explain how this reprehensible content was made public. While the Post has made its preferences very clear in the New York Governor’s race, there is no room for this violent, sexist rhetoric in our politics. We demand answers.”
Goodman sent the tweet at 10:28 a.m., a full 40 minutes after the paper’s announcement.
Team Hochul is falling behind in the polls and falling behind on the news cycle!
Twitter users responded to the statement by pointing out the hack. Others called on her to condemn the hacker.
One user even joked, “I heard it was you that hacked them.”
Hochul’s staffer wasn’t the only one to think the hack was real.
Take a look —
https://twitter.com/patrice_jana/status/1585631863355629568
The New York Post has been hacked. We are currently investigating the cause.
— New York Post (@nypost) October 27, 2022
At 9:09 a.m., the hacker tweeted from the NY Post‘s official account, “Zeldin: I will rape and batter Hochul’s sorry a** p***y.” Zeldin is running for governor against Hochul.
The NY Post rightly condemned the tweet as “vile and reprehensible content,” and the paper promptly fired the rogue employee.
“The New York Post’s investigation indicates that the unauthorized conduct was committed by an employee, and we are taking appropriate action,” one NY Post spokesperson said in a statement to Deadline.
“This morning, we immediately removed the vile and reprehensible content from our website and social media accounts.”
The Horn editorial team