UPDATED: C-SPAN says debate moderator hacked after account tweets about Scaramucci

C-SPAN said the Twitter account of the moderator for the second debate, C-SPAN journalist Steve Scully, was hacked, and that this accounts for a tweet in which he appeared to asked staunch Trump critic Anthony Scaramucci for advice on how to respond to the president.

C-SPAN said Scully believes his account was hacked and that he did not send the tweet about Scaramucci. 

pic.twitter.com/yFtFn0FSZp

— CSPAN (@cspan) October 9, 2020

“@Scaramucci should I respond to Trump,” the tweet from Scully’s account stated in a post Thursday night that was taken down hours later.

The co-chairman of the Commission on Presidential Debates earlier on Friday said it was possible Scully’s Twitter account had been hacked.

“I was told Steve was hacked but I have no direct knowledge,” Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) co-chairman Frank Fahrenkopf told The Hill in a Friday email when reached for comment.

Scully appeared to be reaching out to Scaramucci after the president told Fox News host Sean Hannity he believed Scully was a “never-Trumper” who “worked for Biden at one point” in reference to Scully’s time as an intern for the then-Delaware senator.

“Ignore. He is having a hard enough time. Some more bad stuff about to go down,” Scaramucci, who once served as White House communications director for 11 days, responded.

The tweet comes after the CPD announced Thursday the planned Oct. 15 debate moderated by Scully would be conducted virtually. Trump quickly shot down the proposal, while the Biden campaign announced it would participate in an ABC town hall instead.