San Francisco Federal Reserve Gets Political On Twitter, Apologizes
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco apologized Tuesday for a political message posted to the bank's Twitter page.
The tweet - which was later deleted because "it doesn't represent the Bank's views" - reportedly referenced 2012 Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum, who won the Iowa caucus that year.
It came just hours after Texas Rep. Ted Cruz was announced the winner of the Iowa caucus, overcoming sagging poll numbers in a solid first-place finish over businessman Donald Trump.
Although the tweet was deleted, several Twitter accounts re-posted an image of the message, which read: "Rick Santorum won #Iowa in 2012. Rick Santorum didn't win...anything that matters. Iowa is...Iowa."
The San Francisco Fed later revealed that "an employee mistakenly tweeted from the Bank's account" and apologized for the tweet.
(1/2) Last night an employee mistakenly tweeted from the Bank's account. The tweet was deleted b/c it doesn't represent the Bank's views.
— San Francisco Fed (@sffed) February 2, 2016
(2/2) We apologize for this mistake; we are reviewing our policies & practices to ensure that this does not happen again.
— San Francisco Fed (@sffed) February 2, 2016
In response to the tweet, the bank said it was "reviewing our policies & practices to ensure that this does not happen again."
According to a mission statement on its website, the bank's role in the U.S. economy is to "promote low inflation, full employment and financial stability, and provide services to financial institutions and the Treasury."