Whoops: Scott Walker accidentally announces campaign
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s Twitter account got ahead of him on Friday evening, blasting his nearly 150,000 followers with an announcement that he is running for president.
The Republican’s political Twitter account tweeted on Friday: “Scott is in. Are you? Join our team today.” Attached was a black and white photo of Walker under the caption: “SCOTT WALKER IS RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT.”
The message quickly disappeared from Walker’s Twitter feed, but it could still be viewed on his account for several hours. On Friday night, Twitter spokesman Nu Wexler said in a statement: “We’re looking into today’s issue, and we’ve determined the Walker team was not at fault.”
The errant tweet, first reported by Politico, comes ahead of Walker’s formal announcement event on Monday evening at the Waukesha County Expo Center in the Milwaukee suburbs. It’s the same place where he celebrated winning a recall election in 2012, which catapulted the Republican governor onto the national stage.
Like many candidates before him, Walker has been careful to say only that he is considering a presidential run – avoiding a formal declaration, which triggers reporting rules and other legal requirements.
Once the tweet disappeared from the official feed, Walker’s staff acted as if nothing had happened and plugged their announcement event.
Spokeswoman AshLee Strong wrote in an email: “Stay tuned for Governor Walker’s announcement on Monday.”
This story was originally published July 10, 2015 at 3:05 PM with the headline "Whoops: Scott Walker accidentally announces campaign."