It seems Elon Musk has been getting into a lot of Twitter feuds ever since he announced his intentions to buy the social media giant earlier this month. On Monday, the Twitter board of directors accepted his offer of $44 billion dollars.
On Friday, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez posted a tweet about “some billionaire with an ego problem.” Musk took the tweet personally, but apparently, she wasn’t talking about him. Although she later clarified that the tweet was meant for Facebook – er, Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg – she quickly deleted the clarification within a few minutes of posting it.
Apparently, ‘Billionaire With An Ego Problem’ Was NOT Referring To Elon Musk!
Tired of having to collectively stress about what explosion of hate crimes is happening bc some billionaire with an ego problem unilaterally controls a massive communication platform and skews it because Tucker Carlson or Peter Thiel took him to dinner and made him feel special
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) April 29, 2022
On Friday afternoon, AOC tweeted, “Tired of having to collectively stress about what explosion of hate crimes is happening bc some billionaire with an ego problem unilaterally controls a massive communication platform and skews it because Tucker Carlson or Peter Thiel took him to dinner and made him feel special.”
Stop hitting on me, I’m really shy ☺️
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 29, 2022
Musk replied to the tweet, commenting, “Stop hitting on me, I’m really shy ☺️”
AOC followed it up a short while later with, “I was talking about Zuckerberg but ok.” However, her comment was deleted almost instantly.
Was AOC’s Tweet Really About Elon Musk After All?
Probably because she remembered that feeding trolls is pointless.
— Liad Cohen (@LiadCohen) April 29, 2022
It’s not really clear why AOC decided to delete the tweet. One user commented that it was “probably because she remembered that feeding trolls is pointless.”
It might be possible that AOC decided to delete her tweet because she realized that the label could apply to both of them, since Musk apparently decided to take it personally by responding to the tweet. However, this isn’t something that AOC is going to be able to live down, now that the Internet has collected receipts.
@AOC Remember when you tried to backpedal and deleted it within a minute? Pepperidge Farms remembers pic.twitter.com/aLkcrsnJ0r
— jcal94 (@jcal941) April 29, 2022
Another user posted a pic of the deleted tweet, writing, “@AOC Remember when you tried to backpedal and deleted it within a minute? Pepperidge Farms remembers.”
Petition for Elon to ban AOC from Twitter…
1 like = 1 signature— TT9 Nomad (@Nomad_1x) April 29, 2022
Another user launched an informal “petition” to ask Musk to ban AOC from Twitter. At the time of this writing, it had collected 299 likes so far, but would probably go against Musk’s platform of taking over Twitter to ensure “free speech” for all users.
By “free speech”, I simply mean that which matches the law.
I am against censorship that goes far beyond the law.
If people want less free speech, they will ask government to pass laws to that effect.
Therefore, going beyond the law is contrary to the will of the people.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 26, 2022
Musk explained exactly what he meant by “free speech” shortly after he bought the social media company.
“The extreme antibody reaction from those who fear free speech says it all,” he began. “By ‘free speech’, I simply mean that which matches the law. I am against censorship that goes far beyond the law. If people want less free speech, they will ask the government to pass laws to that effect. Therefore, going beyond the law is contrary to the will of the people.”
Elon Musk u are a manipulat!ve person which is why a lot of people are aga!nst u owning Twitter, no-one is fighting against free speech & truth be told u purchasing Twitter is a m!splaced priority cos the world has far more pressing challenges u can help tackle with ur wealth.
— Daniel Regha (@DanielRegha) April 26, 2022
However, Musk’s words have done very little to comfort many of his critics. Daniel Regha commented on Musk’s post, writing, “Elon Musk [you] are a [manipulative] person which is why a lot of people are [against you] owning Twitter. [No one] is fighting against free speech & truth be told [you] purchasing Twitter is a [misplaced] priority [because] the world has far more pressing challenges [that you] can help tackle with [your] wealth.”
UPDATE: On Saturday morning, AOC explained why she deleted her tweet, saying, “I try to avoid giving people with massive ego complexes like this the attention and QTs/replies they crave and are seeking (when I can help it 😉)”
I try to avoid giving people with massive ego complexes like this the attention and QTs/replies they crave and are seeking (when I can help it 😉)
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) April 30, 2022
