McDonald’s said its corporate Twitter account was compromised before a tweet that attacked President Donald Trump was sent on Thursday.
After being notified by Twitter Inc. about the hack, McDonald’s “deleted the tweet, secured our account and are now investigating this,” the fast-food chain said in a post on the social-media site.
The rogue tweet was posted Thursday morning as a response to Trump’s personal account. “You are actually a disgusting excuse for a president and we would love to have @BarackObama back,” the message read. It was shared hundreds of times before being removed. The account then resumed its more typical activity: interacting with customers about burgers and breakfast.
McDonald’s, based in Oak Brook, Illinois, didn’t comment beyond its statement on Twitter.
The incident marks the latest social-media encounter between corporate America accounts and Trump, who uses Twitter heavily to tweet his thoughts, share news stories and promote his policies. Last month, the president criticized Nordstrom Inc. on the platform, saying the department-store chain had mistreated daughter Ivanka’s brand.
He’s also used Twitter to praise companies, such as L.L. Bean Inc. In January, he urged people to buy products from the catalog retailer after the founder’s granddaughter sparked controversy by donating to a political action committee that supported his campaign.
Trump posted an Instagram picture of him eating McDonald’s french fries on his jet last year during the presidential campaign. He also appeared years ago in a commercial for the company, opposite the fast-food chain’s Grimace character.
(c) 2017, Bloomberg · Nick Turner, Leslie Patton
