Donald Trump Jr., 45, confirmed this week on the latest episode of his podcast “Triggered” that his X (formerly Twitter) account was hacked.
According to CNN, the hacker erroneously posted that his father, former President Donald Trump, 77, had died.
“As some of you may have seen, yesterday I was trending at the top of Twitter yet again,” said Trump Jr. at the top of the episode. “And this time, not due to something I actually said. My Twitter account got hacked and it sparked quite the media reaction.”
The Hill reported that the hacker posted the following: “I’m sad to announce, my father Donald Trump has passed away. I will be running for president in 2024,” and that a spokesperson had also confirmed the hack Wednesday.
As of this week, FiveThirtyEight polling shows that Donald Trump is still far ahead in the GOP polls compared to the other potential 2024 presidential candidates, with nearly 56% support from Republicans. President Joe Biden, 80, has a considerable lead over his lone contender, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., 69, and it looks like the two will likely have a rematch of their 2020 race for president.
Whoever hacked Donald Jr.’s account, which has around 10.4 million followers, also posted a profane message about Biden and claimed North Korea was going to “get smoked.”
Although he admitted that he couldn’t condone some of the posts, Don Jr. said he found some enjoyable.
“If you’re the hacker, reach out, let me know,” he said. “I got back the account, so its fine, but you had some good content. Some of it was pretty funny.”
Trump Jr. said he particularly liked a post that read “I also f****ed your girl btw,” and tagged YouTuber Logan Paul. He also said Thursday that he was in the process of restoring his X account access.
Though the post about his father dying was removed within minutes, it was shared more than 1,000 times, according to CNN. It was viewed even more times. X did not respond to CNN’s request for comment, said the outlet.
“The incident raises fresh questions about X’s role in securing user accounts, particularly those belonging to high-profile political figures as the platform prepares for the 2024 elections,” CNN said. “In August, X said it is staffing up on its safety and election teams following mass layoffs last year that according to owner Elon Musk ultimately eliminated more than 80% of the company’s headcount.”