Spoof Huffington Post Twitter feed

A Huffington Post spokesman says the left-leaning US news and opinion website was not hacked when a Twitter social network feed emerged in its name and began issuing insults with a conservative bent.

Mario Ruiz told The Associated Press in an e-mail Saturday that the account isn't operated by The Huffington Post, but was set up to appear as though it was. He followed up later Saturday to say that Twitter had suspended the account.

Some Twitter subscribers earlier Saturday mistook the mimicked feed for The Huffington Post's own commentary when they were alerted to it by other Twitter users. The feed included mostly unpublishable insults about political and media figures, including President Barack Obama and MSNBC commentator Keith Olbermann.

There also was an admonition to "Vote McCain" in 2012.

- AP