Romney on Secret Twitter Account: ‘Embarrassed to Be Called a Lurker’

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney gives a speech on the state of the Republican party at the Hinckley Institute of Politics on the campus of the University of Utah, in Salt Lake City, on March 3, 2016. George Frey/Getty Images

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) confirmed that he has a secret Twitter account, joking that it is “a new low.”

During an interview on HBO’s Axios, Romney was asked about his Twitter account.

On the Axios program, Romney said he has three Twitter accounts, including two official ones, and an anonymous account.

“I have two official accounts—one is a Senate account and the other is the Mitt Romney account and those accounts are not ones I look at regularly. I do follow them, but I have an anonymous account, which is the one that I look at two or three times a day,” he told Axios.

The interviewer then asked him whether he is “a lurker” on Twitter.

“Is that what they’re called? I’m embarrassed to be called a lurker. I’ve been called a lot of things, but being called a lurker is a new low,” Romney said, while laughing.

“I have a secret Twitter account, yes,” he replied.

The release of the interview comes after Romney appeared to confirm to The Atlantic that he runs the “Pierre Delecto” Twitter account.

“C’est moi,” he told The Atlantic in French, which is translated to “it’s me.” Hours before that, “I won’t give you the name of it” is what he told the magazine.

According to reports, he used the Twitter account to anonymously defend himself against critics, including Fox News pundits and CNN anchors. The account has since been made private following the Atlantic’s report.

Mitt Romney speaks to the media after meeting with US President-elect Donald Trump at Trump International Hotel and Tower in New York on Nov. 29, 2016. BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP/Getty Images

Former CNN reporter Soledad O‘Brien tweeted that Romney, who lived in France for several years while he was a Mormon missionary, has an “utter lack of a moral compass” after a story said Romney may not endorse President Donald Trump during his reelection bid. The Pierre Delecto account criticized O’Brien and defended Romney over the move, as NPR reported. He also used the account to say positive words about himself in response to other Twitter users’ comments.

Trump, meanwhile, panned Romney for his critical comments in public.

“I think they’re lousy politicians,” Trump said of Democrats during a Cabinet meeting on Monday.

“But two things they have. They’re vicious and they stick together. They don’t have Mitt Romney in their midst. They don’t have people like that,” he told reporters.

“And Republicans have to get tougher and fight,” Trump went on. “We have some that are great fighters, but they have to get tougher and fight because the Democrats are trying to hurt the Republican party for the election, which is coming up, where we’re doing very well.”