Barack Obama, the President of the United States, has finally joined Twitter. Six years after he was elected to office, and halfway through his second term, the 53-year-old leader of the most powerful democracy started tweeting from his official handle, @POTUS (short for President Of The United States).
Hello, Twitter! It's Barack. Really! Six years in, they're finally giving me my own account.
— President Obama (@POTUS) May 18, 2015
Even as The White House confirmed that it was indeed Obama tweeting from his own handle on Monday afternoon, his wife welcomed him to Twitter with an "About time!"
By Monday night, Obama had over 1.43 million followers.
BREAKING: President Obama just launched @POTUS with a tweet from the Oval Office. It's really him! #WelcomeToTwitterhttps://t.co/oMsgvV55i1
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 18, 2015
It's about time, @POTUS! –mo
— The First Lady (@FLOTUS) May 18, 2015
But our favourite Twitter-banter so far is between him and former Prez Bill Clinton.
Welcome to @Twitter, @POTUS! One question: Does that username stay with the office? #askingforafriend
— Bill Clinton (@billclinton) May 18, 2015
Good question, @billclinton. The handle comes with the house. Know anyone interested in @FLOTUS?
— President Obama (@POTUS) May 18, 2015
Clinton was referring to his wife, Hillary, who is running for President next year and is the liberal frontrunner for the Democratic Party. The former US Secretary of State to Obama is said to be banking heavily on his coalition to win the election next year.
A press statement from The White House on Monday said that the new social media account would help Obama "to engage directly with the American people, with tweets coming exclusively from him," adding that it would help his administration become "the most open and participatory in history."
We'll be watching the @POTUS twitter handle closely for further updates. Till then, here's a video of Obama sending his first tweet.
Watch President Obama send his first tweet from @POTUS. #FollowTheTweets
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 18, 2015