Morgan Street Food Hall vows that it is not political after prank tweet backs POTUS
Morgan Street Food Hall promises anything you might have seen Wednesday night was some kind of Twitter tomfoolery.
In a now-deleted tweet, it might have seemed Morgan Street Food Hall had picked a moment in the middle of impeachment hearings and a Democratic debate to go political.
The tweet, which existed for less than an hour, read: “We support @POTUS.”
The seeming support for President Donald Trump was met with replies calling out a hack and memes anticipating the fallout. Other said to stick to food, which owner Niall Hanley said they are happy to do.
“Morgan Street is not a place where politics has any business,” Hanley said in a phone interview. “It’s no place for any political persuasion of any sort. We’re about showcasing small local businesses.”
Hanley said his immediate reaction to the tweet went something along the lines of: expletive, expletive, expletive. As for how the tweet actually came into being, he said the food hall is still investigating.
“I think someone got a hold of a password (to the account),” Hanley said. “We’re not quite sure who. Needless to say, none of that is our sentiment.”
There were suggestions from the outset that the tweet wasn’t genuine. Morgan Street’s Twitter account, which has 1,644 followers, hadn’t been active since September. And the post was simultaneously inflammatory and boring, depending on the political leanings of those who saw it.
Still, the food hall fired off two apologetic tweets Wednesday night.
“It appears that our account has been compromised. We apologize for any inappropriate content that was shared,” the first tweet read. “Thank you for your continued support.”
Later, it added a second.
“Again, thank you all for your understanding after our account compromise,” the second tweet said. “MSFH is a place for community and we want everyone to feel welcome — regardless of their political preferences. We prefer to stick to good food and drinks, not politics.”
Hanley declined to say how many people have access to Morgan Street’s Twitter account, @MorganStFoodhll.
The food hall itself is a little more than a year old, and added more than a dozen new restaurants to downtown Raleigh. This weekend, it will add a gin bar called Aunty Betty’s Gin & Absinthe Bar.
“You can have your political beliefs, but they have no place in Morgan Street,” Hanley said.
This story was originally published November 21, 2019 at 4:17 PM with the headline "Morgan Street Food Hall vows that it is not political after prank tweet backs POTUS."
