Stephen Colbert lures Bill Clinton to Twitter

Former president signs up with handle PrezBillyJeff

4/9/2013
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Former President Bill Clinton, left, and Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert during the Clinton Global Initiative at Washington University in St. Louis, Saturday.
Former President Bill Clinton, left, and Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert during the Clinton Global Initiative at Washington University in St. Louis, Saturday.

NEW YORK — Bill Clinton is now on Twitter, albeit without a very presidential name.

Stephen Colbert lured the former president to the social networking site on “The Colbert Report” on Monday, signing him up with the handle PrezBillyJeff. Clinton dictated his first message to Colbert, who typed: “Just spent an amazing time with Colbert! Is he sane? He is cool!”

Whether Clinton would continue to use the account is uncertain. Colbert's hand is clearly in the account's bio, too. It reads: “Stephen Colbert is my BFF.”

By early today, the account had amassed nearly 50,000 followers and was climbing fast.

Colbert interviewed Clinton not in his New York studio, but at the annual Clinton Global Initiative University gathering in St. Louis. The interview had been taped on Saturday.