C-SPAN suspended debate moderator Steve Scully indefinitely after he admitted he lied about having his Twitter account hacked.
Scully, a political editor for C-SPAN, was set to moderate the second presidential debate between President Donald Trump and Senator Joe Biden tonight (Oct. 15).
But the debate was canceled after Trump refused to debate Biden virtually.
Trump and Biden will hold simultaneous town hall events tonight on NBC and ABC at 8 p.m. EST.
Last week, Scully accidentally sent a tweet to Trump’s former aide Anthony Scaramucci, asking, “@Scaramucci Should I respond to trump.”
Scully asked Scaramucci how to respond to Trump’s attacks against him on Twitter.
Trump sent a series of tweets saying the debate was rigged because Scully interned for Biden as a college student in Delaware.
Frank Fahrenkopf, a co-chairman of the Commission on Presidential Debates, was the first to claim publicly that Scully’s Twitter had been hacked.
“Frank is correct,” Scully said. “I am also not friends with Anthony Scaramucci.”
But Twitter users dug up old tweets by Scully who claimed his Twitter was hacked in 2012 and 2013.
In a statement to the Associated Press, Scully apologized for lying.
“I falsely claimed that my Twitter account had been hacked,” Scully said. “These were both errors in judgement for which I am totally responsible for. I apologize.
Trump tweeted in response to the news:
“I was right again! Steve Scully just admitted he was lying about his Twitter being hacked. The Debate was Rigged! He was suspended from @cspan
indefinitely. The Trump Campaign was not treated fairly by the “Commission”. Did I show good instincts in being the first to know?”
I was right again! Steve Scully just admitted he was lying about his Twitter being hacked. The Debate was Rigged! He was suspended from @cspan indefinitely. The Trump Campaign was not treated fairly by the “Commission”. Did I show good instincts in being the first to know?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 15, 2020
