The Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network has suspended anchor and would-be presidential debate moderator Steve Scully for spreading the lie that he was “hacked” after users noticed him tagging anti-Trump pundit Anthony Scaramucci on Twitter and asking him how to “respond” to Trump.
Scully, a former Joe Biden intern, appeared to offer excuses for his behavior in a statement about the lies.
“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 said.
“This culminated on Thursday, October 8 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 statement continued. “The next morning when I saw that this tweet had created a new controversy, I falsely claimed that my Twitter account had been hacked. These were both errors in judgement for which I am totally responsible. I apologize.”
A vindicated President Donald trump posted on Twitter Thursday, “I was right again! Steve Scully just admitted he was lying about his Twitter being hacked. 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?”
I was right again! Steve Scully just admitted he was lying about his Twitter being hacked. 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?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 15, 2020
National File previously reported on the multiple conflicts of interest that could have arisen if Scully, whose track record suggests a distinct partisan bent, would have gone on to host a debate between Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
Scully served as an intern for none other than Delaware Senator Joe Biden, and went on to serve as a “staff assistant in Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s communication office.” Biden and Kennedy are two of the most high-profile Democrat senators in modern American history.
The friendship between Biden and Scully appears to have remained rock-solid over the years, as several decades later in 2016 the CSPAN host posted a picture of him and Biden together at a party with the caption, “Gotta love the @VP at the Biden Beach Bash ’16.”
Gotta love the @VP at the Biden Beach Bash '16 pic.twitter.com/Z9gdC6Cmi1
— Steve Scully (@SteveScully) June 4, 2016
Additionally, multiple screenshots are circulating that appear to show an undated Scully Twitter post featuring a New York Times article headlined, “No, Not Trump, Not Ever.”
The Trump campaign is claiming Scully’s suspension proves an unmistakable pattern of flamboyant pro-Biden partisanship on the part of 2020’s presidential debate moderation team.
