Donald Trump Jr. is having a bad week after having his Twitter/X account hacked—but social media doesn’t have much sympathy for his technical struggles, with some users telling the former First Son to “stop the whining.”
Trump Jr.’s X (formerly known as Twitter) account was hacked on September 20th, with the verified account thereafter posting a series of dramatic tweets on a variety of incendiary topics, including claiming that father Donald Trump Sr. had passed away and directing an apparent threat to the country of North Korea. When the businessman returned to his account, it was to very little consolation from the public, with other users calling it “a shame” that he had regained control.
Donald Trump Jr.'s Social Media Account Hacked; Posts Erratic Messages
On September 20th, a series of unusual messages were posted to Trump Jr.'s Twitter/X account, beginning with the pronouncement that "I'm sad to announce, my father Donald Trump has passed away. I will be running for president in 2024." The dramatic tweet remained up on the account for a half hour before being deleted, and had at least 2,000 retweets, 1,500 replies and 2,000 likes before disappearing.
Other tweets included dramatic claims like "This just in: North Korea is about to get smoked," "Some interesting messages with Jeffrey Epstein...," and "I also f----- your girl btw @LoganPaul," the latter tagging the account of influencer-cum-boxer Logan Paul. These messages as well remained on Trump Jr.'s account for at least a half an hour before the entrepreneur eventually regained control. Prior to this, his spokesperson confirmed around 8:30 A.M. that the account had been "hacked" and that the message about the former president's death in particular was "obviously not true."
Social Media Responds: 'Stop The Whining'
Once Trump Jr. returned to his account, the rest of social media wasn't exactly sympathetic to his hacking plight. Upon regaining control of his Twitter/X, the political activist wrote, "I'M BACK... Hunter Biden must have hacked my account!!!" in what appeared to be an attempt at a joke about the situation. Responders were not very amused:
I speak for everyone on X when I say, we do not care.
— Global News (@WorldWireX) September 22, 2023
Please give him back your account
— Destined to Hell (@HellboundHAHA) September 22, 2023
I'M BACK... Hunter Biden must have hacked my account!!!
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) September 22, 2023
Still others joked about the situation, criticizing Trump Jr. in the process and even speculating that substances may have been involved in the incident:
I'M BACK... Hunter Biden must have hacked my account!!!
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) September 22, 2023
Still thinking that Don Trump Jr. was not hacked and on a 24 hour cocaine bender and wanted to see the reactions to him running for President.
He probably imagines his dad dying a lot and thinks he deserves the nominee when it happens. Cocaine will drive up all your thoughts… pic.twitter.com/heMr4V1UR3 — Asad Y.R. (@AsadYR) September 21, 2023
Ah what a shame
— Jacob in Cambodia (@jacobincambodia) September 22, 2023
This latest high-profile hacking follows other takeovers on Twitter/X of big-name accounts like former President Barack Obama, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and even current "X" CEO Elon Musk himself. These hackings have, of course, prompted questions about the social media platform's security as of late, especially following Musk eliminated over 80% of the company's employees after taking over in December of last year. The Federal Trade Commission is also currently investigating Twitter/X over the company's inability to sufficiently protect user privacy, as well as the possibility it may have violated binding commitments made in 2011 regarding the security of the platform. Luckily, the site has shared that it will at least be bumping up its safety and election teams ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
