Evangelical megachurch Hillsong has apologised after tweeting out a politically-charged message during the first US Presidental debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
The tweet, which labelled President Trump “a bully” and demanded that his microphone be muted, appeared to be mistakenly posted to the church’s social media account by a member of staff. Hillsong’s account has over 889,000 followers.
The tweet was quickly removed, but not before it had been screenshotted by a number of people:
In other news, a source just sent me this since-deleted tweet from Hillsong Church — a major evangelical church. pic.twitter.com/FfQ4jVWcib
— Jack Jenkins (@jackmjenkins) September 30, 2020
“Can’t they just mute Trump’s microphone!!” it read. “He is coming across as such a bully. No respect for him sorry. #PresidentialDebate2020”.
Hillsong Church later released a statement on Twitter, confirming that the tweet was posted in error.
“Earlier today a staff member accidentally posted on this account personal comments about the US presidential debate, that were meant for a personal account,” they wrote. “Hillsong does not comment on partisan politics & apologizes. These comments do not represent the views of Hillsong Church.”
Many eagle-eyed Twitter users also noticed a number of tweets that Hillsong’s twitter account had “liked” over the course of the debate, most of which were critical of President Trump’s conduct during the debate.
“The US has a brute for a president who has no education, no intellect, no respect,” one read.
Hillsong Church rarely states an official position on matters related to politics nor declares any political affiliations.
With that being said, the church’s founder, Brian Houston, has previously been spotted attending gatherings of evangelical leaders at the Trump White House.
Earlier today a staff member accidentally posted on this account personal comments about the US presidential debate, that were meant for a personal account. Hillsong does not comment on partisan politics & apologizes. These comments do not represent the views of Hillsong Church.
— Hillsong Church (@Hillsong) September 30, 2020
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