Elon Musk took another jab at Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Friday after the progressive lawmaker accused the billionaire of tampering with her Twitter account.
Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) raised eyebrows earlier this week when she claimed her Twitter account had stopped working properly after she publicly criticized Musk’s plan to charge $8 per month for account verification.
“What can I say? It was a naked abuse of power,” Musk tweeted sarcastically.
Musk was responding to a tweet by conservative pundit Benny Johnson, who shared an Instagram video in which Ocasio-Cortez recounted the allegation about her Twitter account while eating a chicken tender.
Ocasio-Cortez claimed she noticed a glitch after she was “at a community event in the Bronx” earlier this week.
“When I get home, I see a text from my team saying, ‘hey, let me know if you need any help with this Elon stuff. And I was like, ‘what?’ So I pulled up my Twitter app and it’s like, gone. Like when you pull up your mentions and stuff like that, it’s just like literally like a blank screen, totally gone. And I was like, ‘hm, that’s weird.’”
“So it turns out we got under a certain little billionaire’s skin,” she added.
The New York lawmaker also made the claim on Twitter — alleging that her mentions and notifications had “conveniently” stopped working after she exchanged barbs with Musk.
“Yo @elonmusk while I have your attention, why should people pay $8 just for their app to get bricked when they say something you don’t like? This is what my app has looked like ever since my tweet upset you yesterday,” Ocasio-Cortez said alongside a screenshot of the blank notification page. “What’s good? Doesn’t seem very free speechy to me.”
Musk also replied with a laughing emoji in response to a meme one follower shared showing an upset Ocasio-Cortez standing next to a Tesla with the caption, “AOC when realizes she helped Elon buy Twitter.” The Democrat said earlier this year that she owned a Tesla but wanted to get rid of it.
Ocasio-Cortez and Musk had renewed their feud after the new Twitter CEO revealed that he would charge users $8 per month to maintain their “blue check” verification badges. The revamped “Twitter Blue” paid subscription will also offer other perks, such as fewer ads and the ability to post longform audio and video.
“Lmao at a billionaire earnestly trying to sell people on the idea that ‘free speech’ is actually a $8/mo subscription plan,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Tuesday night.
“Your feedback is appreciated, now pay $8,” Musk replied on Wednesday.
Musk faced intense scrutiny on Friday as Twitter began a wave of layoffs. The company is expected to cut roughly half of its 7,500-employee workforce.