
Sen. Mitt Romney apparently has a secret Twitter account that was discovered after he confirmed its existence in an anti-Trump profile published on Sunday.
The Utah Republican appeared to disclose to McKay Coppins of The Atlantic that he was a “lurker” and had a second Twitter account which he used to anonymously follow politicians, journalists and others in an effort to keep up on the latest political discourse.

During the interview, Coppins asked the 72-year-old lawmaker about the #IMPEACHMITTROMNEY hashtag that President Trump had launched earlier this month. Romney responded in part by noting the use of his secret account.
“I won’t give you the name of it,” he said, but “I’m following 668 people.”
According to The Atlantic:
Swiping at his tablet, he recited some of the accounts he follows, including journalists, late-night comedians (“What’s his name, the big redhead from Boston?”), and athletes. Trump was not among them. “He tweets so much,” Romney said, comparing the president to one of his nieces who overshares on Instagram.
Soon after the Atlantic piece was published, Slate contributor Ashley Feinberg uncovered the account after some digging around. With no profile image, the Twitter user @qaws9876 appeared to be Romney under the name “Pierre Delecto.”
According to Feinberg:
This account joined the site in July of 2011, just one month after Romney announced his run for president. The majority of people it follows are either political reporters, politicians, political operatives, or pundits. Though it also follows noted big redhead from Boston Conan O’Brien. Pierre Delecto appears to be a fan of the late-night hosts Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon, too, as well as current and former NFL players Tom Brady and Brett Favre, respectively.
Pierre Delecto currently follows 702 accounts, which is a few more than the 668 Romney admitted to Coppins, but it’s certainly possible to follow 30 additional accounts over the course of a few weeks, especially for a user that appears to have recently upped its Twitter activity.
The first to follow the account was Romney’s eldest son Tagg, followed soon by Boston.com politics editor Glen Johnson, according to Feinberg. The account also follows several Romney family members in addition to journalists, lawmakers and former campaign advisers from Romney’s 2012 presidential run and his Senate campaign.
Thanks for the follow, @MittRomney pic.twitter.com/TPTMjZjzss
— Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) October 21, 2019
Coppins updated the published piece in The Atlantic later on Sunday, noting that after reaching out to Romney to confirm that the Pierre Delecto account was his, he responded: “C’est moi” — which is French for “it’s me.”
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
“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 @SenatoryRomney or @MittRomney accounts, and three included a direct mention of one or the other,” Feinberg wrote.
By 10 p.m. Sunday evening, the account had been made private.
But screenshots of Romney’s tweets from the account were soon popping up on Twitter and Feinberg had captured many of the images in the Slate article.
Pierre Delecto/maybe-Mitt also liked this tweet suggesting that this is the defining image of Marco Rubio. Some uncomfortable moments ahead in the Senate. 6/ pic.twitter.com/QKzABnbSUh
— Don Moynihan (@donmoyn) October 20, 2019
Mitt Romney (AKA Pierre Delecto) liked this tweet. (As did I.)
Since @MittRomney is the most prominent @GOP anti-Trumper, I’m starting to wonder . . . which foreign country was told it wouldn’t get its foreign aid until it found out who Pierre Delecto was . . . https://t.co/W9pfm2WLwu
— Mrs. Betty Bowers (@BettyBowers) October 21, 2019
I made it my mission to go through the likes on the alleged Romney account, @qaws9876, which has since gone private. Here are some of the best likes: pic.twitter.com/s6zC8ZAwXM
— Jake Webster ? (@JakeDaveWebster) October 20, 2019
.@MittRomney, welcome to the #Resistance
cc @qaws9876 pic.twitter.com/HaMV7dfu9v
— safarishane (@safarishane) October 20, 2019
Saved the best for last. Oof, siding with Schiff! How does Mitt come back from this?! pic.twitter.com/lQpSCPxe96
— safarishane (@safarishane) October 20, 2019
Pierre Delecto appears to really care about what Jennifer Rubin thinks about Mitt Romney…https://t.co/RItA3OxJSu pic.twitter.com/M7E7yUpiJu
— Jerry Dunleavy (@JerryDunleavy) October 21, 2019
i think the saddest version of the anon-alt-burner account is the one used to defend yourself in publichttps://t.co/ehTMSgDj00
— rat king (@MikeIsaac) October 20, 2019
What a total loser.
This Sure Looks Like Mitt Romney’s Secret Twitter Accounthttps://t.co/S1nVCNHKlL
— Arthur Schwartz (@ArthurSchwartz) October 21, 2019
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