Source: Anadolu Agency / Getty
Elon Musk might’ve bitten off more than he could chew, as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is effectively trolling the billionaire on Twitter.
As the Tesla founder has begun his oversight of the social media platform, there have been many who are concerned about the increased potential for bullying among other questionable decisions. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has been among the most vocal, calling out Musk over his plans to charge $8 a month for those verified by Twitter to keep their blue check. “Lmao at a billionaire earnestly trying to sell people on the idea that “free speech” is actually a $8/mo subscription plan,” she wrote.
That apparently didn’t sit well with Musk, who fired back a terse response.
Of course, it didn’t end there. The congresswoman from Queens let her Twitter followers know that since the exchange, her account was undergoing some significant issues. “Just a reminder that money will never [buy] your way out of insecurity, folks,” she wrote.
She’d later detail her struggles with logging on in an Instagram Story. “I was at a community event in the Bronx in Coop city, and when I get home, I see a text from my team saying ‘Hey let us know if you need any help with this Elon stuff,’” she said. “And I was like ‘What?’ So I pull up my Twitter app, and it’s like, gone. Like when you pull up your mentions and stuff, it’s just like literally it’s a blank screen. Totally gone. And I was like ‘’Hmm, that’s weird.’ So it turns out we got under a certain little billionaire’s skin.”
Ocasio-Cortez pointed to another exchange where Musk knocked her and her campaign team for selling a “TEAM ACO” sweatshirt for $58 on her website. “So then, he decides to like tweet a screenshot of our campaign store because our sweatshirts are like $50 to $58 as some kind of like ‘Gotcha’ that like other people pay money for goods, emphasis on ‘real goods’ in the world,” she said.
She then added a final flourish by tweeting: “Proud of this and always will be. My workers are union, make a living wage, have full healthcare, and aren’t subject to racist treatment in their workplaces. Items are made in USA. Team AOC honors and respects working people. You should try it sometime instead of union-busting.”
Looks like we’ll have to stay tuned for the next round.
