Should you delete that tweet?

Nasty stuff, yes. But few of us would be terribly surprised if some teenage boy who didn’t know any better tweeted out those misogynistic sentiments.

Trouble is, those tweets weren’t sent by an immature teenager. Say hello to Mitt Romney’s new spokesman.

Richard Grenell, a former Bush administration United Nations spokesman, was hired late last week to serve as a national security and foreign policy spokesman for the Romney campaign. And he comes with a trail of nasty—and often misogynistic—tweets.

According to The Huffington Post, Grenell “appears to have deleted more than 800 of his past tweets.” Here are a few of his greatest hits:

No wonder he deleted them. But that raises a question: What should public figures do when they find themselves in Grenell’s shoes? Here are three ideas:

1. Don’t write offensive things in the first place.