A CNN spokesperson says "someone took the phone and sent the tweet."

CNN says that a snarky, pointed tweet sent from Anderson Cooper's account in reply to a Donald Trump tweet was the result of the anchor's assistant's phone being taken. 

"Geolocation tools confirm that the tweet in question was not sent from Anderson Cooper’s phone," read a statement from the network. "Anderson was in Washington, and we have proof the tweet was sent from New York, from a phone belonging to his assistant."

The statement added: "His assistant inadvertently left his phone unlocked and unattended at the gym early this morning, and someone took the phone and sent the tweet. His assistant, who has worked with Anderson for more than a decade, is the only other person with access to Anderson’s Twitter account."

The errant tweet was a response to the President on Thursday regarding the loss of Republican candidate Roy Moore in the Alabama special election. Trump had tweeted: "The reason I originally endorsed Luther Strange (and his numbers went up mightily), is that I said Roy Moore will not be able to win the General Election. I was right! Roy worked hard but the deck was stacked against him!"

Cooper's account replied: "Oh Really? You endorsed him you tool! Pathetic loser."

That tweet was quickly deleted and Cooper's account, which hadn't sent a tweet since Nov. 26, then wrote: "just woke up to find out someone gained access to my twitter account. i have not sent a tweet in days or replied to any tweets. We are looking into how this happened."

The deleted tweet: