Part of what has made New York Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez such a political star is her total lack of fear of speaking truth to power—and that includes one of the richest, and arguably most powerful, men in the world, Elon Musk.
AOC has been mercilessly dragging the new billionaire owner of Twitter, who acquired the platform last month for $44 billion in a purported bid to strengthen "free speech" and make the virtual "town square" a place where discourse is exchanged more freely.
In practice, this has mostly resulted in free-flowing racial, ethnic and anti-LGBTQ+ slurs and disinformation by the far-right figures to whom he has become a hero, and a desperate plan to charge verified users for their blue check marks.
If charging public figures for their only means of ensuring rogue account holders don't imitate and speak for them online seems antithetical to Musk's stated goals, you're not alone.
AOC is not having any of it, and has been dragging Musk to filth over the idea.
\u201cLmao at a billionaire earnestly trying to sell people on the idea that \u201cfree speech\u201d is actually a $8/mo subscription plan\u201d— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) 1667359524
In one tweet about the issue, AOC wrote:
"Lmao at a billionaire earnestly trying to sell people on the idea that 'free speech' is actually a $8/mo subscription plan"
It's not just AOC dragging Musk, though. His $8 plan has drawn widespread anger and mockery on Twitter, especially given the embarrassing way he arrived at the figure itself.
Musk first floated a $20 per month charge for verification, which sparked practically everyone with a blue check mark to say they'd simply delete their accounts altogether instead.
Others mocked Musk as being desperate for money now that his $44 billion reality has set in and advertisers have begun leaving the platform over all the hate speech and unchecked conspiracy theories now freely flying around.
Musk rolled with all the mockery and stuck to his guns for a day or two, until none other than iconic author Stephen King pushed back on the idea—whereupon Musk made an absolute fool of himself in response.
After King tweeted "fu*k that" in response to Musk's proposed $20 charge, Musk began groveling at King to approve a smaller $8 per month charge.
He tweeted:
"We need to pay the bills somehow! Twitter cannot rely entirely on advertisers. How about $8?"
As you might imagine, this beggary only made the mockery of Musk even worse.
\u201cbro please just pay $20 for the blue check mark, I swear it\u2019ll be worth it, please just upgrade to Twitter Gold, bro please I need to keep this business solvent, what about $8? buy the check mark please I swear this will clear up all the bots bro please just buy the check mark\u201d— Watch_For_Pedestrians (@Watch_For_Pedestrians) 1667318736
And AOC quickly jumped into the fray.
She followed up her initial drag of Musk with another perfectly worded tweet.
\u201cOne guy\u2019s business plan for a $44 billion over-leveraged purchase is apparently to run around and individually ask people for $8.\n\nRemember that next time you question yourself or your qualifications.\u201d— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) 1667438181
Musk, of course, immediately began hitting back... but that didn't really go very well for him either.
First, Musk responded by tweeting at her, "Your feedback is appreciated, now pay $8." Sick burn as always, Elon.
Then he tried to drag her for the prices on the merch she sells on her website, which pretty much blew up in his face after AOC explained why the prices are so high—because unlike Musk's notoriously low-paying and abusive factories, she employs a unionized workforce with extensive benefits to make her products.
\u201c@elonmusk 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.\n\nYou\u2019re a union buster with an ego problem who pockets the change from underpaying and mistreating people.\u201d— Elon Musk (@Elon Musk) 1667425439
Many on Twitter were absolutely loving all the punches AOC was landing.
\u201c@AOC @elonmusk AOC dragging Elon Musk is what I live for.\u201d— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) 1667485391
\u201cElon Mush picked a digital fight with AOC. He shouldn\u2019t have done that.\u201d— The Hoarse Whisperer (@The Hoarse Whisperer) 1667441157
\u201cElon may own Twitter but AOC owns him. #DemsDeliverDemocracy\u201d— NoelCaslerComedy\ud83c\udf19 (@NoelCaslerComedy\ud83c\udf19) 1667436887
\u201cElon getting continually dunked on by AOC makes me incredibly erect\u201d— Locked In \ud83e\udd83 (@Locked In \ud83e\udd83) 1667438966
\u201cElon Musk crying about AOC on the 5th day he owns a website is the least surprising website moment, tbh\u201d— Brett "Solidarity 2022" Banditelli (@Brett "Solidarity 2022" Banditelli) 1667428708
\u201c@AOC @elonmusk Elon is going to need this.\u201d— Elon Musk (@Elon Musk) 1667425439
\u201cElon tryna shame AOC for charging $58 for sweatshirts when he charges $60k for cars that don\u2019t work\u201d— Notorious \u201cHeroes don\u2019t kill people\u201d Pigeon (@Notorious \u201cHeroes don\u2019t kill people\u201d Pigeon) 1667485528
\u201c@AOC AOC, you seem to upset many unsavory people. \ud83d\ude42\u201d— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) 1667436150
\u201c@AOC But AOC, have you even considered implementing Elon Musk\u2019s cost-saving technique of having an extremely racist workplace\u201d— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) 1667436040
Musk got a few shots in as well--and even reportedly retaliating by hobbling certain features and functionalities of AOC's account, though there's no way to prove he did so.
But in the end it was Ocasio-Cortez who got the last word.
\u201cAlso my twitter mentions/notifications conveniently aren\u2019t working tonight, so I was informed via text that I seem to have gotten under a certain billionaire\u2019s skin \ud83d\ude02\n\nJust a reminder that money will never by your way out of insecurity, folks.\u201d— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) 1667436150
Your move, Elon. When you're done begging people for $8, of course.