Tech experts: Sean Spicer is not butt-tweeting America

Sean Spicer has a message for America: “n9y25ah7.”

POLITICO Screen grab

That missive, which Spicer tweeted out Thursday morning, came after the new White House press secretary offered another cryptic message on Wednesday: “Aqenbpuu.”

POLITICO Screen grab

The tweets, both of which have since been deleted, raised speculation that Spicer was accidentally sending messages to his 214,000 followers because of his phone bumping around in his pocket.

But blaming butt bumbles may be premature, as savvy tech users pointed out. Here’s the alternative theory.

Spicer was attempting to log into his Twitter account on his computer, and (wisely) has a two-factor authentication system. In that system, when he tries to log in on his computer, after entering his password, he gets a code texted to his phone. Typically, he can take that code, enter it into his computer and tweet away — typically by communicating Trump administration policy, arguing with reporters or blasting Dippin’ Dots.

But, the theory goes, in these two instances, Spicer erred. Instead of using the texted code on his computer, Spicer accidentally replied to it with his password. Twitter has a system that automatically allows people who connect their phone numbers to their account to tweet via SMS messages. And so when he sent his password, his Twitter account thought that was actually a message he was trying to send out.

Boom, “Aqenbpuu” it is.

To date, this is only a theory, but a bunch of tech-savvy types explored and tested the theory in detail here.

Then again, maybe he just had an unlocked cell phone in his pocket and the tech gods decided to be particularly cruel. Who hasn’t been there?

We’ve reached out to Spicer and will update with any further information as this extremely important investigation goes forward.