Mitt Romney Admits to Owning Secret Twitter Account with Fake Name Used To Defend Himself
Sen. Mitt Romney has admitted to having a fake Twitter account that appears to have been used to defend the Utah Republican online.
During an interview, Romney identified himself as a “lurker” — a reference to the Twitter behavior of those who monitor conversations more than participate in them, according to a report in The Atlantic.
After McKay Coppins, the reporter interviewing Romney, put some pieces together, he believed that the account was under the name “Pierre Delecto.”
He said the senator confirmed it Sunday night.
“Just spoke to @MittRomney on the phone, and asked him about Pierre Delecto. His only response: ‘C’est moi,'” Coppins tweeted.
Just spoke to @MittRomney on the phone, and asked him about Pierre Delecto. His only response: “C’est moi.” Updated my story accordingly: https://t.co/kcfIopokWh
— McKay Coppins (@mckaycoppins) October 21, 2019
A review of Romney’s fake Twitter account was conducted by Slate, which noted that the account was public while Slate reviewed its contents but has since been made private.
“Of the 257 tweets the account has liked over the last eight years, 30 of them came from the official @SenatorRomney account, 28 came from the official @MittRomney account, seven were tweets quoting either the @SenatorRomney or @MittRomney accounts, and three included a direct mention of one or the other. Even more were about Romney generally without mentioning an official Twitter handle,” Slate reported.
Slate said Romney has made only 10 tweets since the account was created in 2011. Among those was a tweet aimed at Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin, who called Romney’s strategy against President Donald Trump “non-confrontation verging on spinelessness.”
“Jennifer, you need to take a breath. Maybe you can then acknowledge the people who agree with you in large measure even if not in every measure,” the fake Twitter account replied, according to Slate.
Slate was unable, however, to answer one question.
“There is one remaining mystery, however: the username,” it wrote. “The handle @qaws9876 doesn’t hold any obvious significance to Romney, although considering the four letters are all directly adjacent to one another on a standard keyboard, and the numbers are simply run backward, it seems entirely possible that it was an attempt at random placeholder text. The name Pierre Delecto, however, is harder to explain. ‘Pierre’ certainly does seem like a name a Mitt Romney-type looking for an alias might choose, though the ‘Delecto’ is less clear.”
The revelation evoked talk of “Carlos Danger,” a fake name used by disgraced former Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner of New York when he was trolling the internet to meet women. Weiner would later be sent to prison after sending illicit photos to an underage girl.
It also made Romney the butt of jokes on Twitter.
I’m thinking Pierre Delecto and Carlos Danger hang out
A lot
— John Cardillo (@johncardillo) October 21, 2019
I’m glad we lost in 2012. I’d much rather have a president who’s not afraid to say what’s on his mind than the one who only says what he’s really thinking whilst hiding behind Pierre Delecto.
— Alana Mastrangelo (@ARmastrangelo) October 21, 2019
Stop me if you’ve heard this one: Pierre Delecto, Carlos Danger, and John Barron walk into a bar…
— Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) October 21, 2019
Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee had strong words for Romney.
“Having fake Twitter accounts on social media: that’s the work of kids, cowards, couch potatoes and perverts like Carlos Danger. … If he’s got something to say, man up and say it,” Huckabee said on Fox News‘ “Fox & Friends.”
“Let us all realize that this guy is not a team player. He’s still bitter because Donald Trump got elected and he didn’t,” he said.
Huckabee said it is time for Romney to “get over it” and focus upon the real issue of 2020, that America faces a “binary choice” between capitalism and socialism.
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