Mitt Romney Is Secretly Pierre Delecto
Despite some hints that he would be done with politics if he didn't win the White House as the Republican nominee in 2012, Mitt Romney briefly flirted with taking a position in the Trump administration, and, when that didn't pan out, he went on to become the junior senator from Utah. Today his brand relies heavily on selling himself as a Reasonable Conservative—anti-Trump in demeanor if not in any actual policies.
One of the distinctions that Romney draws between himself and the president he once courted for a job is how they both navigate Twitter. In a lengthy new profile of Romney in The Atlantic, McKay Coppins gives a brief description of the senator's Twitter habits:
He explained that he uses a secret Twitter account—"What do they call me, a lurker?"—to keep tabs on the political conversation. "I won’t give you the name of it," he said, but "I’m following 668 people." 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. "I love her, but it’s like, Ah, it’s too much."
Romney betrayed just how not Twitter savvy he is. The info he gave The Atlantic was more than enough for someone with resolve and free time to track his account down. In this case, that person is reporter Ashley Feinberg, who also uncovered former FBI director James Comey's shadow account. Feinberg wrote for Slate that she strongly believed Romney's lurker account is @qaws9876, also known as Pierre Delecto. Per Slate:
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.
That sounds like the kind of feed that Romney would subscribe to, plus Pierre Delecto also follows all the Romney children on Twitter, along a pro-Romney photographer who posted things like this:
What few posts Pierre made himself are mostly pro-Romney, offering gentle corrections to polls and basically working like a very low-impact PR department. Coppins reportedly reached out to Romney about this new lead, asking him if he was indeed Pierre Delecto. Romney's response was simply, "C'est moi."
The discovery has invited some derision. Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, who's also prone to embarrassing himself on Twitter, tried to connect Romney to disgraced Anthony Weiner, writing, "How sad. A US Senator created a fake name for Twitter and became 'Pierre Delcto.' [sic] Hiding behind a pseudonym is what kids, cowards, couch potatoes, or perverts like 'Carlos Danger' do."
Any Romney super-fans out there hoping for a glimpse into Mitt's unvarnished thoughts are out of luck, sadly. Since Feinberg's revelation, Pierre Delecto's account has gone private.
For nearly four decades now, Michael Kors has been one of the most persistent and winning personalities in fashion—a designer with rare talent who has blended luxury and popularity to create a global empire. But the question is, with the internet upending the industry, how will he push forward? Kors answers as only he can: By going big and doing it all.
Originally Appeared on GQ
