C-SPAN suspended its political editor Steve Scully indefinitely Thursday after he admitted to lying about his Twitter feed being hacked. It turns out President Trump was right after all.
“These were both errors in judgement for which I am totally responsible for,” Scully said. “I apologize.”
He said he let down his colleagues at C-SPAN, fellow news professionals and the debate commission, the Associated Press reported.
“For several weeks, I was subjected to relentless criticism on social media and in conservative news outlets regarding my role as moderator for the second presidential debate, including attacks aimed directly at my family,” Scully wrote in a statement to CNN. “This culminated on Thursday, October 8th when I heard President Trump go on national television twice and falsely attack me by name. Out of frustration, I sent a brief tweet addressed to Anthony Scaramucci. The next morning when I saw that this tweet had created a controversy, I falsely claimed that my Twitter account had been hacked.”
C-SPAN said Scully confessed to lying about the hack on Wednesday.
“He understands that he made a serious mistake,” the network told AP. “We were very saddened by this news and do not condone his actions.”
The news came on the day of what was supposed to be a career highlight for the 30-year C-SPAN veteran. Scully was to moderate the second debate between President Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden, which was canceled after Trump would not agree to a virtual format because of his COVID-19 diagnosis.
So now we know that the real reason the debate format was changed.
“I was right again! Steve Scully just admitted he was lying about his Twitter being hacked,” the president wrote on Twitter. “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?”
Scully asked his journalism colleagues for their forgiveness as “I try to move forward in a moment of reflection and disappointment in myself.”
So not only did Scully not apologize to the president, but he also blamed them for his character flaw.