NEW YORK — It was an inside job.
A hacker who hammered the New York Post with at least a half-dozen racist, misogynist and extremist headlines under the paper’s red banner actually worked at the tabloid.
“The New York Post’s investigation indicates the unauthorized conduct was committed by an employee and we are taking appropriate action,” the paper said in a statement. “We immediately removed the vile and reprehensible content from our website and social media accounts”
Bogus articles claiming gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin was going to commit a horrid sex act on Gov. Kathy Hochul and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott was authorizing the slaughter of undocumented immigrants were quickly taken down from the tabloid’s website.
The hacker also infiltrated the Post’s Twitter feed, linking to fake Post articles about Zeldin making racist statements about New York Mayor Eric Adams and an unhinged opinion piece calling for the assassination of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.
The fake headlines and tweets shocked readers of the Post and brought immediate denunciations from Adams and Hochul.
“These vile, racist and sexist comments have no place in public discourse, even by those unlawfully hacking a Twitter account,” said Fabien Levy, a spokesman for Adams.
Hochul campaign spokesman Jerrel Harvey demanded an immediate explanation into “how this reprehensible content was made public.”
“The New York Post has long fostered an ugly, toxic conversation on their front pages and social accounts, but these posts are more disgusting and vile than usual,” Harvey said. “While the Post has made its preferences very clear in the New York Governor’s race, there is no room for this violent, sexist rhetoric in our politics. We demand answers.”
Local elected officials called for a probe into what occurred.
“Violence against women and female politicians is a global issue,” Rep. Adriano Espaillat tweeted. “It is dangerous and reckless to promote femicide. I am calling for an investigation into this series of social media posts targeting @KathyHochul @AOC from your account. Now!”
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