On Thursday morning, New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez suggested Elon Musk had tampered with her account's notification feature.
Following Ocasio-Cortez's criticism of Musk's announcement tying "verification" status with Twitter Blue subscribers, the New York representative claimed her notifications weren't working.
"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?" Ocasio-Cortez said in a Thursday morning tweet appearing to suggest Musk had intentionally tampered with her account's notification system.
"This is what my app has looked like ever since my tweet upset you yesterday. What’s good? Doesn’t seem very free speechy to me."
"Lmao at a billionaire earnestly trying to sell people on the idea that ‘free speech’ is actually a $8/mo subscription plan," said Ocasio-Cortez in a Tuesday tweet criticizing the new Twitter owner for charging users to "verify" their account.
"Your feedback is appreciated, now pay $8," Musk responded.
Musk appeared to suggest Ocasio-Cortez's comments were hypocritical by sharing a screenshot of a $58 sweater for sale on the New York representative's website. Ocasio-Cortez responded to Musk shortly after, saying, "proud of this and always will be."
"My workers are union, have full healthcare + benefits like childcare help, and every one is paid a living wage," Ocasio-Cortez said to Musk. "Proceeds go to community acts like tutoring underserved kids. You’re a union buster with an ego problem who pockets the change from underpaying and mistreating people."
"My workers are union, make a living wage, have full healthcare, and aren’t subject to racist treatment in their workplaces," the New York representative continued in a separate post. "Items are made in USA. Team AOC honors and respects working people. You should try it sometime instead of union-busting."
"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," Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Wednesday night, claiming she was unaware of Musk's previous response. "Just a reminder that money will never by [sic] your [sic] way out of insecurity, folks."
The New York representative continued her criticism of the tech billionaire, tweeting, "one guy’s business plan for a $44 billion over-leveraged purchase is apparently to run around and individually ask people for $8. Remember that next time you question yourself or your qualifications."
Twitter's account verification updates are reportedly set to arrive as soon as Monday. Current verified Twitter accounts will reportedly have a multi-month grace period before their verification will be tied to a Twitter Blue subscription, according to Bloomberg.
