No, Gov. Larry Hogan’s Facebook page wasn’t hacked. And no, it wasn’t an exasperated staff member.
It was in fact, the Republican Maryland governor who got “tired of stupid comments” on social media and took matters into his own hands.
Thursday afternoon comments written on the governor’s official Facebook page started to appear in response to people complaining about Hogan holding another coronavirus news conference.
“We’re getting Hogan fatigue. Please make it stop,” one user wrote.
Hogan’s response?
“I’m getting fatigued with your stupid comments every day. If you are tired of seeing what I say on my Facebook page why not just get the hell off my page and you won’t be so bothered by listening,” he wrote in a comment back.
When asked by a Baltimore Sun reporter during Thursday’s briefing at the Annapolis State House, Hogan said he thought his response was “appropriate” but that in hindsight, he maybe “shouldn’t have used that language.”
“After nine months of working day and night seven days a week, I woke up at 3 this morning and I get people who are spewing angry, hateful things every day, all day on Facebook,” Hogan said. “I didn’t call anybody any bad things but I was frustrated with the stupid comments.”
The governor said he tries to engage with people who ask questions on social media but that it was “unusual” for him to respond like that.
Another person on Facebook said he wished that the governor would release a statement rather than having “long drawn out press conferences.”
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Hogan replied that the individual should just not watch.
Maryland Policy & Politics
Regular news briefings, often more than once a week, have been held by the governor since coronavirus started to ravage Maryland and the rest of the nation.
“It was fairly easy, you don’t have to listen to me anymore,” Hogan said about the critical social media comments.
The criticisms — and responses from Hogan — weren’t limited to COVID-19.
Earlier Thursday, Hogan posted on his page about a new partnership between Maryland and Ontario that will help with trade, economic growth and workforce development.
One Facebook commenter suggested the deal was illegal.
Wrote Hogan: “I’m pretty sure you are wrong.”
Baltimore Sun reporter Alex Mann contributed to this article.