Conservative Lawmaker Blames ‘Hackers’ After His Account Shares Photo of a Shirtless Man: ‘Needless to Say I Was Disgusted’

Simon Davis/U.K. Department for International Development & X/@kkrs_16

A conservative lawmaker from the U.K. blamed “hackers” on Wednesday after his account reposted a photo of a shirtless man with abs.

Sir Desmond Swayne, a U.K. Conservative Party MP, raised eyebrows on social media after his official X account reposted a photo of a young, shirtless man showing off his abs and pectoral muscles.

After the repost went viral, however, Swayne issued a statement claiming “hackers” were responsible.

“Unfortunately, my X account got hacked earlier and the hackers decided to repost something very bizarre,” he wrote. “Needless to say I was disgusted by what they reposted and passwords were changed immediately. Thank you everyone who highlighted this so rapidly.”

Swayne previously blamed “hackers” in 2006 after leaked emails revealed his disparaging nicknames for fellow MPs, including “Mr Angry” and “mincehead.”

Several Republican politicians have also been caught in embarrassing situations on social media, including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), who was found to have publicly “liked” a pornographic clip on X back in 2017.

While Cruz’s team initially implied that a hacker was responsible for the inappropriate “like,” the senator went on to blame a “staffing issue.”

More recently, two separate Republican lieutenant governors were also found to have made embarrassing comments online.

In 2023, Tennessee Lieutenant Gov. Randy McNally was caught liking and leaving comments on sexually suggestive posts of a gay man who posed in hardly any clothes.

“I’m really, really sorry if I’ve embarrassed my family, embarrassed my friends, embarrassed any of the members of the legislature with the posts,” McNally apologized in a statement.

A year later, North Carolina Lieutenant Gov. Mark Robinson was also reported to have made inappropriate comments on a pornographic forum called “Nude Africa” for several years.

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