Politically charged tweets posted from state account during debate

Update | 7:08 p.m.

Alaska Department of Health & Social Services spokeswoman Susan Morgan replied to questions about the tweets in an email. She wrote that department officials apologize.

“Some recent tweets were inadvertently posted to our Twitter account by a DHSS staff member who was accidentally logged into the DHSS account instead of their personal account while on their personal phone at home,” Morgan wrote. “The inadvertent tweets were deleted and we will be reviewing the matter in the days ahead to ensure it doesn’t happen again.”

Original Story | 6:39 p.m.

DHSS debate tweets 2016 09 26
Some politically charged tweets related to the presidential debate were sent on the Alaska Department of Health & Social Services Twitter account at 5:32 p.m. and 5:37 p.m. during the debate Monday. The tweets were deleted shortly after going out. (Graphic by Jeremy Hsieh/KTOO)

Two politically charged tweets were posted from the Alaska Department of Health & Social Services Twitter account during the presidential debate on Monday.

One tweet referred to Donald Trump as a “red-faced mansplainer.”

The other tweet referred to “rape charges.”

The tweets were posted at 5:32 p.m. and 5:37 p.m., and were deleted shortly after they were sent. 

Correction: The department’s name has been corrected. It’s the Department of Health & Social Services, not the Department of Health & Human Services. 

Andrew Kitchenman

State Government Reporter, Alaska Public Media & KTOO

State government plays an outsized role in the life of Alaskans. As the state continues to go through the painful process of deciding what its priorities are, I bring Alaskans to the scene of a government in transition.

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