California Democratic Representative Adam Schiff masterfully trolled billionaire Musk as "the (outgoing) CEO of Twitter" in a new tweet, turning Musk's own tweet against him after Musk mocked Schiff for losing his committee chairmanship.
Earlier this week, a Twitter poll Musk created asking whether he should “step down as head of Twitter” ended Monday morning with most respondents voting "yes."
Musk said he would abide by the results of the poll, which came about after he walked back a policy that suspended accounts for linking out to competing social media sites.
You can see the poll Musk created below.
\u201cShould I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll.\u201d— Elon Musk (@Elon Musk) 1671405633
While Musk hasn't made public any plans to step down, the search is on for a new chief executive for Twitter, according to sources who spoke to CNBC's David Faber. They told Faber there has been an ongoing search for a new CEO even before the Twitter poll was made.
In the meantime, Musk has continued to share more posts about the “Twitter files” leak of a series of messages between the social media platform's leadership team in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election.
The purportedly leaked messages shed light on the political disputes that erupted at Twitter as its officials deliberated over how to handle the dissemination of a New York Post story about the contents of a laptop owned by President Joe Biden's son, attorney Hunter Biden.
Musk weighed in on another post about the "Twitter files" that suggested federal investigative and intelligence agencies "discredited factual information about Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings" before and after The New York Post published its story, which was criticized for shoddy reporting.
Musk claimed the federal government "paid Twitter millions of dollars to censor info from the public" and immediately attacked Schiff—who chairs the United States House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence—writing:
"As (outgoing) Chair of House Intelligence, did you approve hidden state censorship in direct violation of the Constitution of the United States [Schiff]?"
You can see Musk's tweet below.
\u201cAs (outgoing) Chair of House Intelligence, did you approve hidden state censorship in direct violation of the Constitution of the United States @RepAdamSchiff?\u201d— Elon Musk (@Elon Musk) 1671549225
Schiff responded shortly afterward saying he doesn't support "censorship" or "hate speech" and turned Musk's tweet against him when he wrote:
"As the (outgoing) CEO of Twitter, how about you? Why not do more to stop slurs against Black people, LGBTQ+ people, Jewish people, and others?"
"Do you commit to providing the public with actual answers and data, not just tweets?"
You can see Schiff's tweet below.
\u201cI don\u2019t support censorship. Or hate speech.\n\nAs the (outgoing) CEO of Twitter, how about you? Why not do more to stop slurs against Black people, LGBTQ+ people, Jewish people, and others? Do you commit to providing the public with actual answers and data, not just tweets?\u201d— Adam Schiff (@Adam Schiff) 1671565390
Many applauded Schiff's response and offered their own criticisms of Musk's stewardship of Twitter.
\u201cYou'll get no coherent, honest answer from Aparteid beneficiary @elonmusk\u201d— John Bliss (@John Bliss) 1671570260
\u201cMy friend was suspended for a 3 tweet thread SUPPORTING LGBTQIA+ rights. That was about 3 weeks ago. She is still suspended.\u201d— Andrea \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 \ud83c\udff4\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc62\udb40\udc73\udb40\udc63\udb40\udc74\udb40\udc7f \ud83c\udde9\ud83c\uddea \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6 (@Andrea \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 \ud83c\udff4\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc62\udb40\udc73\udb40\udc63\udb40\udc74\udb40\udc7f \ud83c\udde9\ud83c\uddea \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6) 1671573613
\u201cAdam is debating with an idiot. Intelligent man vs a clown.\u201d— Dave Walski (@Dave Walski) 1671568250
\u201c@elonmusk - seriously, dude - you think you're as brilliant as a federal prosecutor? wowsa\u201d— DerMann (@DerMann) 1671572810
\u201cBOOM \ud83d\udd25\u201d— the granners (@the granners) 1671571141
\u201cThank you Adam!\u201d— Tamela Ehlinger \ud83c\udde9\ud83c\uddf0 \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@Tamela Ehlinger \ud83c\udde9\ud83c\uddf0 \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1671573746
\u201cThis is a brilliant reply by Adam Schiff.\u201d— Wear a Mask Mask Saves Lives (@Wear a Mask Mask Saves Lives) 1671573918
Schiff's remark to Musk comes mere days after Musk rather childishly attacked him for criticizing Musk's open attacks against free speech since acquiring Twitter in October.
At the time, Schiff took aim at Musk for declaring himself a "free speech absolutist" and looking the other way as "hatred and bigotry" proliferate on Twitter, accusing Musk of hypocrisy for suspending the accounts of several prominent journalists on the platform.
An unrepentant Musk responded shortly afterward, expressed glee that Democrats will lose control of the House of Representatives come January, and reveled in Schiff losing his chairmanship "very soon" before claiming that Schiff's "brain is too small."
Schiff's criticisms of Musk's leadership style came after Musk banned several prominent journalists from Twitter, including CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan, The New York Times’ Ryan Mac, The Washington Post’s Drew Harwell, and other journalists who have covered the saga unfolding at Twitter, which has been riddled with scandals since Musk acquired it.
Musk claimed the journalists violated his new “doxxing” policy by sharing his “exact real-time” location, saying these violations are akin to providing “assassination coordinates," though he has provided no evidence he, as one of the world's richest men and a major public figure, is in any real danger.
Musk later polled the Twitter community and asked if the banned journalists should be reinstated, with the majority saying the accounts should be reinstated "now." Although Musk attempted to redo the poll, the results were the same and he subsequently honored the results and reinstated the suspended accounts.
