Sen. Mitt Romney confirmed that he runs an alter ego Twitter account under the alias Pierre Delecto.
A profile on the Utah Republican published by the Atlantic on Sunday revealed that Romney operates a separate account to monitor political news and commentary but didn’t expose his handle.
“I won’t give you the name of it,” he told the outlet, but “I’m following 668 people.”
A reporter for Slate later uncovered what she believed to be Romney’s account under the handle @qaws9876 and the name Pierre Delecto. The author of the Atlantic piece then asked the senator if it was indeed his account, which he confirmed.
“Just spoke to @MittRomney on the phone, and asked him about Pierre Delecto,” McKay Coppins tweeted. “His only response: ‘C’est moi.'”
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 self-described “lurker,” Slate noted that Romney has only tweeted 10 times as Pierre Delecto, all of which were replies to other tweets. Many of the replies defended the senator in response to critical tweets about him.
Among those Romney follows on his now-not-so-secret account are journalists, political pundits, late-night comedians, and athletes — but not President Trump, with whom he’s feuded recently.
“He tweets so much,” Romney explained why.
