Mitt Romney's Twitter Nemesis

Social media’s central role in the presidential campaign has elevated some unusual figures to positions of prominence. Mitt Romney probably imagined his official Twitter handle (@MittRomney) would be the provenance of his own campaign. Yet on many days, the most heavily retweeted mentions of @MittRomney—a standard gauge of popularity and influence—don’t emanate from the buttoned-down former governor, but from an account whose avatar reveals a large, hirsute man wearing nothing but a green Speedo. That’s Rob Delaney (@robdelaney), a ribald Los Angeles comic who, along with his half a million followers, has emerged as Romney’s chief tormentor on Twitter.

It’s an odd pairing. Delaney’s stand-up routine doesn’t involve politics. But his stage act is only one part of his repertoire. In May he beat out the likes of Stephen Colbert and Aziz Ansari to win Comedy Central’s “Funniest Person on Twitter” award. Here, Romney has proved irresistible—and a boon for Delaney’s career, winning him attention and bigger audiences for his act.