Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Wednesday said that her mentions and notifications tab on her Twitter account is "conveniently" not working shortly after sharing her criticism of the Elon Musk-owned social media platform.
“Also my twitter mentions/notifications conveniently aren’t working tonight, so I was informed via text that I seem to have gotten under a certain billionaire’s skin,” the progressive firebrand wrote in a tweet, taking a jab at Musk.
“Just a reminder that money will never [buy] your way out of insecurity, folks,” she added.
Ocasio-Cortez's shot at Musk comes after she scoffed at another user for comparing Twitter’s latest monthly subscription initiative to major news outlets that offer subscription services.
“Lmao at a billionaire earnestly trying to sell people on the idea that 'free speech' is actually a $8/mo subscription plan,” Ocasio-Cortez said in a tweet earlier Wednesday, replying to a tweet by venture capitalist David Sacks in which he asked why establishment newspapers such as The Washington Post and The New York Times don't give out their products for free.
“Are you seriously equating an app where people are torrenting racial slurs at an accelerated clip with the New York Times,” Ocasio-Cortez replied to Sacks. “Also fyi, legacy newspapers actually care about verifying newsworthy sources. And they don’t charge their journalists/creators for ‘priority’ placement.”
Musk earlier this week announced his plans to raise the price of Twitter’s subscription service, Twitter Blue, from $5 to $8 per month and require it for verification. Celebrities, prominent political figures, journalists, athletes, content creators and major companies on Twitter can receive a blue checkmark icon as part of the platform’s old regime, though will need to pay the fee to have the verified status.
Musk’s initiative has sparked backlash among users, who have criticized the plan after initial reports Musk was considering charging $20 per month for the platform’s subscription service.
Musk, 51, who officially purchased Twitter last week, also took time to call out Ocasio-Cortez’s pricing on a shirt on her website in response to her criticism. Ocasio-Cortez chimed back at Musk.
“My workers are union, have full healthcare + benefits like childcare help, and every one is paid a living wage. Proceeds go to community acts like tutoring underserved kids.,” Ocasio-Cortez replied to Musk.
“You’re a union buster with an ego problem who pockets the change from underpaying and mistreating people.”
