President Trump’s reelection campaign quickly used rival Joe Biden getting hacked to its advantage.
The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee’s Twitter account was one of many high-profile accounts that was hacked with a Bitcoin scam on Wednesday.
The tweet was posted at 5:22 p.m. and quickly deleted. It prompted users to send money to a specific Bitcoin wallet with a promise to return double that amount, a known scam.
“Twitter locked down the account immediately following the breach and removed the related tweet. We remain in touch with Twitter on the matter,” the Biden campaign said in a statement.
For the Trump campaign, it was a messaging opportunity.
I’ve seen creative ways to disguise a tax increase, but this takes the cake.
Hacked account or not, this is a perfect metaphor for Biden’s pitch to taxpayers:
“???? ?? ???? ?????!” pic.twitter.com/GoqnX5fLX5
— Tim Murtaugh – Download the Trump 2020 app today! (@TimMurtaugh) July 15, 2020
“I’ve seen creative ways to disguise a tax increase, but this takes the cake,” Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh said in a tweet. “Hacked account or not, this is a perfect metaphor for Biden’s pitch to taxpayers: ‘Give me your money!'”
Twitter accounts for billionaires Elon Musk and Bill Gates and former President Barack Obama, among other high-profile accounts, were also compromised and posted the same scam on Wednesday afternoon. According to TechCrunch, $25,700 worth of Bitcoin had been sent to the scammer’s account as of 4:34 p.m. and was rising by the minute.
The Twitter account hack is one of the few notable instances of compromised accounts for the Democratic presidential nominee in the 2020 campaign. In 2016, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman John Podesta had his emails hacked and exposed on WikiLeaks, causing headaches for her campaign and numerous negative news cycles.
