President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign site was hacked Tuesday night.
A message on the site read “This site was seized” and that the “world has had enough of the fake news spreaded (sic) daily” by the president.
(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
Tim Murtaugh, a spokesman for the Trump campaign, said the “website was defaced, and we are working with law enforcement authorities to investigate the source of the attack. There was no exposure to sensitive data because none of it is actually stored on the site. The website has been restored.”
The hackers claimed to have information that could “discredit” the president and his family and demanded an unspecified amount of money in cryptocurrency to either release the information or withhold it.
“The U.S. citizens have no choice,” the message read.
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The message, which reportedly stayed on the site for less than a half hour, also claimed that Trump was “involved in the origin of the coronavirus” and asserted he has been cooperating with “foreign actors manipulating the 2020 elections.”
The FBI is currently investigating.
NBC News is reporting that in the final 48 hours of his presidential re-election campaign, Trump plans to hold 11 campaign rallies.
Read More: Kayleigh McEnany called Biden ‘likable man of the people’ compared to ‘tycoon’ Trump
He is expected to spend most of his time in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Florida and North Carolina.
Trump has held 26 rallies since his return to the trail after contracting and being hospitalized for COVID-19.
With less than one week before the end of the 2020 election season, Democratic presidential challenger Joe Biden is still leading in many polls, including boasting a reported 17-point lead in Wisconsin.
His travel schedule is much more scaled back than the Trump’s, with trips to Florida, Iowa and Wisconsin on his roster.
Read More: Biden goes on offense in Georgia while Trump targets Midwest
Veteran Democratic strategist Donna Brazile says Biden is running a “21st-century virtual campaign.”
“They’re utilizing every tool in the playbook,” she said, “and keeping the candidate and the campaign grounded so they can get their message out through these targeted local TV appearances, these targeted Zoom calls, these targeted virtual calls.”
More than 70 million U.S. citizens have already voted.
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