Debates co-chair claims Steve Scully's Twitter account was hacked, moderator didn't actually ask an anti-Trumper for advice on Trump

A top official on the Commission on Presidential Debates claimed Friday morning that debate moderator Steve Scully's Twitter account was hacked and that's the reason it appeared that Scully recently reached out to Trump critic Anthony Scaramucci for advice on Trump.

The tweet in question was posted Thursday and appeared to show Scully, who is scheduled to moderate the second presidential debate, asking Scaramucci if he should respond to the president's attacks on him.

Scaramucci — who famously served as President Trump's White House communications director for all of 10 days before being fired and becoming a vocal critic of the president — responded by saying, "Ignore. He is having a hard enough time. Some more bad stuff about to go down."

As TheBlaze reported, several Twitter users speculated that Scully "accidentally sent the tweet publicly when he likely intended the message to Scaramucci to be private."

But now Frank Fahrenkopf, a co-chairman on the debates commission, is claiming that the tweet was the result of Scully's Twitter account being hacked.

"He was hacked. It didn't happen," Fahrenkopf said, according to Fox News producer Rocco Aloe.

Aloe added that Fahrenkopf made the comments Friday morning on Fox News host Brian Kilmeade's radio show.

Several individuals on Twitter found Fahrenkopf's claim suspicious.

"Then why would Scaramucci respond like he knows what they were talking about?" wrote one person.

Another said, "Yeah, right! I call BS," while someone else wrote, "Things that didn't happen for $200, Alex."

Still another was even more forceful: "This is so insulting to the American people that they think they weasel out of this with the 'hacked' excuse. Scully and Fahrenkopf both need to step down now."

Scully, a longtime C-SPAN political editor and host, had already been the subject of controversy after it was reported that he once served as an intern for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden while Biden was serving in the Senate.

President Trump has criticized Scully publicly. On Thursday, during an interview with Fox Business Network's Maria Bartiromo, the president said Scully seemed like a "nice guy" but it turns out he is a "Never Trumper."

The news is just the latest dramatic turn of events pertaining to the second presidential debate, which was initially scheduled to take place in-person on Oct. 15. Then, due to the president having tested positive for the coronavirus last week, the debates commission decided to change the format to be virtual.

But Trump has flatly refused to participate in a virtual event and his campaign has since requested that the debate be rescheduled for a week later in order for it to be conducted in person.