Mitt Romney Admits He Is 'Pierre Delecto'

He has been using name on 'lurker' Twitter account
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 21, 2019 3:46 AM CDT
Updated Oct 21, 2019 6:41 AM CDT
Romney's Secret Identity on Twitter Uncovered
Sen. Mitt Romney speaks during a roundtable discussion at Intermountain Primary Children's Hospital on anti-vaping efforts Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019, in Salt Lake City.   (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

You might know him as mild-mannered Sen. Mitt Romney. But on Twitter, he is Pierre Delecto, fearless defender of ... Mitt Romney. After the Utah senator mentioned in an Atlantic profile Sunday that he has a "lurker" Twitter account that he uses to follow journalists and athletes, among others, Ashley Feinberg at Slate did some sleuthing and found the Delecto account, which follows and is followed by numerous Romney family members. Its first follower was Tagg Romney, one of the senator's sons. The account, created in July 2011, has only posted 10 times, all in response to other tweets. Nine of the posts came this year, and many of them defended Romney against critics. The account is no longer public.

"Jennifer, you need to take a breath," Delecto wrote after Jennifer Rubin at the Washington Post said his strategy for dealing with President Trump was "verging on spinelessness." "Maybe you can then acknowledge the people who agree with you in large measure even if not in every measure." Many of the 257 tweets the account has liked are either pro-Romney remarks or tweets from official Romney accounts, according to Feinberg. McKay Coppins, author of the Romney profile, tweeted Sunday night that he asked Romney about the Delecto account and his response was "C'est moi." The New York Times notes that it's not clear what the name "Pierre Delecto" could be a reference to. (More Mitt Romney stories.)

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