Mitt Romney. Lurker.
Just when you thought American politics couldn’t get any weirder, we learn that mild-mannered, self-deprecating Mitt Romney has a secret Twitter account.
Had a secret account, that is. A sleuth working for Slate Magazine outed it on Monday. By the time most of us heard about it, it was locked down as private.
Romney, who has a regular Twitter account with 1.9 million followers, used the nom de plume “Pierre Delecto” on his alt-account.
When asked by a reporter if the account was his, the senator replied, “C’est moi.” Who knew Mitt was a Francophile?
Alas, Pierre Delecto was an unfortunate moniker. It sounds like a porn star. Naturally, there were comparisons to pervert Anthony Weiner’s alter ego, Carlos Danger.
Twitter’s number one parlor game yesterday was trying to figure out the meaning behind the name. So far there’s been no explanation from the Romney camp. That may be for the best.
Truth is, Romney’s use of Pierre Delecto was rather benign. He mostly followed other people - more than 700 of them - which makes him a “lurker” in the parlance of Twitter. When he did Tweet, it was usually to praise himself or to criticize Donald Trump. Pierre reportedly “liked” lots of Tweets that said nice things about Romney.
It’s no secret that Romney loathes the president, even though he welcomed Donald Trump’s endorsement when he was running for the Senate. Once in Washington, Romney began sniping at the commander-in-chief, which endeared him to the very people who hated him in 2012 for having the audacity to run against Barack Obama.
Like all of us, Romney has a right to speak his mind.
But using a “sock puppet” account to congratulate himself, while taking shots at the president shows a degree of insecurity that’s surprising in a man who once wanted to lead the Free World.
In fact, it’s rather cowardly.
As someone who had her face in the newspaper three times a week for 17 years, I have a hard time taking seriously people who hide behind aliases and fake social media identities.
The Virginian-Pilot recently announced it was scrapping the comment feature on news stories and columns. Some subscribers were upset. A few contacted me to see what I thought of the move.
I shrugged.
The comments section of most newspapers are a cesspool. The reason? Anonymity.
It takes cojones to stake out a position and put your name on it. It takes nothing to voice a strong opinion while hiding behind a digital shrub.
Shoot, even Hillary Tweets under her own name.
Mitt Romney always seemed like a decent guy, albeit awkwardly wholesome. With the unmasking of his self-promoting Pierre Delecto alter ego, Romney looks like just another wimpy Washington weasel.
