• subscribe
    • General

    Stephen Colbert forces Bill Clinton to join Twitter as @PrezBillyJeff

    With just one tweet, the former president gets nearly 35,000 followers

    Emily Senger
    <p>Former President Bill Clinton and Comedy Central&#8217;s Stephen Colbert, right, speak during the Clinton Global Initiative at Washington University on Saturday, April 6, 2013, in St. Louis. More than 1,000 students from 75 countries and all 50 states are gathered for a weekend of sessions seeking practical and innovative solutions to the world&#8217;s problems. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)</p>

    Former President Bill Clinton and Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert, right, speak during the Clinton Global Initiative at Washington University on Saturday, April 6, 2013, in St. Louis. More than 1,000 students from 75 countries and all 50 states are gathered for a weekend of sessions seeking practical and innovative solutions to the world’s problems. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

    Jeff Roberson/AP

    Long-time Twitter holdout former president Bill Clinton is now on Twitter thanks to a little help — some would say coercion — from Stephen Colbert.

    Clinton appeared on The Colbert Report Monday, which was filmed at a Clinton Global Initiative University meeting in St. Louis.

    The two discussed social media and reaching out to youth before Colbert announced his surprise for the former president.

    “Well, sir, I took the liberty of opening you a Twitter account,” Colbert said.

    Clinton is a little late to the game, so the handles @PresidentClinton and @WilliamJeffersonClinton were already taken, but @PrezBillyJeff was wide open and available. A Twitter account was born, with the description: “I am President William Jefferson Billy Jeff Rodham Clinton. Stephen Colbert is my BFF.”

    So far, Clinton has racked up nearly 35,000 followers by sending out only one tweet. He even got the hashtag for the Clinton Global Initiative University correct.

    tags:twitter