About

Pierre Delecto is Republican Senator Mitt Romney's "lurker" Twitter account moniker that has been used by the Senator since 2015 to defend himself to reporters and various Twitter users. Romney admitted to having an addition secret Twitter account in October 2019 in an interview the The Atlantic which was then discovered the same day by a Slate reporter. The Twitter account name had been mocked online after Romney confirm that Pierre Delecto was indeed himself.

Origin

On December 27th, 2015, @qaws9876 of Pierre Delecto's first tweet was in reply to a Fox News tweet of the New Hampshire Presidential Primary Preference by saying "why isn't your NH poll up on your website?" (shown below).^[1]

Spread

On May 9th, 2019, Pierre Delecto responded to a list of GOP Senators sticking up for Richard Burr posted by Steven Dennis by tweeting "Romney too. Said to Post that he has confidence in Chairman Burr" (shown below, left).^[1] On May 31st, @qaws9876 responded to a Politico article posted by Jennifer Rubin which she introduced by tweeting "Inside Romney's Trump strategy- his strategy is nonconfrontation verging on spinelessness." Pierre Delecto responded by saying " Jennifer, you need to take a breath. Maybe you can then acknowledge the people who agree with you in large measure even if not in every measure (shown below, right).^[1]

On October 20th, 2019, The Atlantic^[2] published an interview by Mckay Coppins called "The Liberation of Mitt Romney." During the interview Romney admitted to having a personal "lurker account" (shown below).

When I met him in his office a couple of weeks later, I asked if the Twitter insults bothered him.
“That’s kind of what he does,” Romney said with a shrug, and then got up to retrieve an iPad from his desk. 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.

That same day, following The Atlantic article Slate^[1] writer Ashley Feinberg published "This Sure Looks Like Mitt Romney's Secret Twitter" stating that the Twitter account @qaws9876 or Pierre Delecto matches Romney's description. That same day The Atlantic received the confirmation of "c'est moi" (it's me) from Romney when asked is Pierre Delecto was his account. On October 20th, Twitter user @Kanew^[3] tweeted, "Give @ashleyfeinberg a Pulitzer for this -- she tracked down Mitt Romney’s secret twitter account, and he confirmed it’s him. He uses it to defend himself to reporters. He just went up a few notches in my book for the name alone: “Pierre Delecto” (!)" (shown below, left). The tweet gained over 700 likes and 180 retweet in a day. That same day, Twitter user @SpikeEskin^[4] tweeted, "I think people on both sides of the aisle can admit that Pierre Delecto is an amazing fake twitter name" (shown below, right). The tweet garnered over 4,100 likes and 380 retweets in a day.

In Pari Delicto

On October 20th, 2019, Twitter users began speculating as to why Romney chose the name Pierre Delecto. Twitter user @SmartieBootsie^[5] tweeted, "I thought the handle may be a play on “in pari delicto” – legal Latin for a situation when two parties have both done something “bad” and are equally at fault" (shown below, left). The tweet gained over 40 likes and many Twitter users began tweeting the same idea. That same day, Twitter user @VeryMadmartigan^[6] tweeted, "Imagine Mitt, having shut down a business leaving hundreds unemployed, being sued for millions, and his lawyer tells him 'don't worry, we have the in pari delicto defense' 'Well thank you, Pierre Delecto!' Mitt jokes, noting his cleverness and humor" (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References