Fact Check

No, Mitt Romney Didn't Say This About Jill Biden

Romney supposedly tweeted that the first lady ought to win an Oscar for portraying "an Alzheimer's care giver posing as a loving wife."

Published Jan. 29, 2022

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 06: Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) departs from the Senate Chambers during a series of votes in the U.S. Capitol Building on October 06, 2021 in Washington, DC. Congress has until October 18 to raise the debt ceiling or risk a default that would have widespread economic consequences. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images) ( Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images)
Image Via Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images
Claim:
U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney tweeted that first lady Jill Biden should get an Oscar for portraying "an Alzheimer's care giver posing as a loving wife."

In January 2022, a tweet attributed to U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, circulated online. Dated April 25, 2021, the tweet gave the appearance of being posted while Romney was watching the 93rd Academy Awards with his wife, Ann, and live-tweeting it.

The tweet was an apparent political jab at U.S. President Joe Biden, who was sworn in at 78 and is the oldest person to assume the office of president.


However, Romney didn't author this tweet. He didn't post any tweets at all from his official Twitter account on April 25, 2021, and no such tweet appears on Politiwoops, a database of deleted tweets from public officials run by the national news nonprofit ProPublica.

Sharing fake tweets and attributing them to high-profile people like celebrities or politicians is hardly a new phenomenon. As we pointed out in a previous story about the subject, there are steps readers can take to avoid accidentally sharing fake tweets, such as checking Snopes to see if we've already covered it, checking to see if there is a link to the original social media post, and checking the alleged tweeter's social media account to see if you can locate the post yourself.


Sources

Echter, Brandon. “Yes, ‘There’s Always a Tweet’ — but Sometimes, It’s Fake.” Snopes.com, 5 Aug. 2021, https://www.snopes.com/articles/362690/theres-always-a-tweet/.

Bethania Palma is a journalist from the Los Angeles area who started her career as a daily newspaper reporter and has covered everything from crime to government to national politics. She has written for ... read more