Sen. Mitt Romney meets singer Ritt Momney on Capitol Hill: 'Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery'

• Sen. Mitt Romney met with singer Ritt Momney at his Senate office on Wednesday.
• Momney's indie-pop cover of "Put Your Records On" gained viral TikTok fame in 2020.

Republican Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah met on Wednesday with Ritt Momney, a 22-year old musical artist from Utah whose stage name is a play on the senator's own name.

"It's said that imitation is the most sincere form of flattery," wrote the 2012 Republican presidential nominee on Twitter. "Enjoyed meeting @RittMomney and his band today. I wish them all the best!"

The singer, whose real name is Jake Rutter, is in Washington for a concert at the Songbyrd Music House on Wednesday evening.

—Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) March 23, 2022

Rutter explained to the Desert News in June 2021 that "Ritt Momney" was the name of a high school garage rock band that he led. After growing up in a Mormon family, later embarked on a solo career with the same moniker after his bandmates left for their Latter-day Saint missions.

"There's no reason, man," he said of the choice to use a spoonerism of the Utah Republican's name. "We were high school kids. It was sort of a subversion — a 'stick-it-to-the-man' sort of thing."

"At this point, it's whatever," he added.

In April 2020, he released an indie-pop cover of Corinne Bailey Rae's 2006 pop song "Put Your Records On" that blew up in September 2020 after becoming popular on TikTok.

Rutter signed a deal with Columbia Records in September 2020 and was later named to the top spot on Billboard's "Emerging Artists" chart.

Despite their share name, the two differ significantly politically.

"The way I see it, it's, like, cool of him to stand up to [former president Donald] Trump," he told Deseret News. "But if that's the standard, I don't think we're doing super well."

Romney voted to convict Trump during both of his impeachment trials, becoming the first Republican senator to vote to convict a president of his own party during the first trial. The second time around, he was joined by 6 other Republican senators.

"I'm sure he has grandkids that have heard the song and let him know about it, but I don't know," Rutter told Billboard in November 2020. "Maybe I'll set up a meeting some time and go talk abortion rights."