Mitt Romney admitted that he operates a secret Twitter account where he slams President Donald Trump's policies and defends himself against critics and journalists.

An account which operated under the handle @qaws9876 was discovered by Slate's Ashley Feinberg and was used mainly to defend Romney and like dozens of tweets from Romney's official accounts.

Romney, one of few Republicans in Congress who has openly criticized Trump, admitted that he operated a "lurker" account on Twitter to The Atlantic's McKay Coppins in a profile published by the outlet on Sunday.

Trump has recently traded barbs with Romney on Twitter, calling Romney a "pompous ass" who "choked" during the 2012 presidential election.

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Mitt Romney admitted that he operates a secret Twitter account where he slams President Donald Trump's policies and defends himself against critics.

Slate's Ashley Feinberg uncovered an account which operated under the handle @qaws9876, and went by the name Pierre Delecto. The account, which has since been made private, joined Twitter in July 2011, one month after Romney announced his presidential campaign.

According to screenshots of the account provided by Slate, Delecto's Twitter activity involved defending Romney against critics, slamming Trump's policies including his decision to withdraw US troops from Syria, and liking dozens of tweets from official Mitt Romney pages.

Romney, one of few Republicans in Congress who has openly criticized Trump, admitted that he operates a "lurker" account on Twitter to The Atlantic's McKay Coppins in a profile published by the outlet on Sunday.

Read more: Mitt Romney said everyone in the Senate is 'really nice' except for Bernie Sanders, who 'just kind of scowls'

"I won't give you the name of it," he told The Atlantic, but "I'm following 668 people," which he said included journalists and late-night comedians like Conan O'Brien, which seemed to generally fit the description of the Delecto's account found by Slate.

When asked by Coppins on Sunday if he indeed operated the Pierre Delecto account, Romney responded with "C'est moi," which is French for "it's me."

Trump has recently traded barbs with Romney on Twitter after Romney called Trump's appeal to China and Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden "wrong and appalling." Trump's call to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sparked Democrats to open an impeachment inquiry.

Trump responded to Romney's criticism by calling the Utah senator a "pompous ass" and suggested that he "begged" for Trump's endorsement during his senate run.