Elon Musk and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) on Friday got into a bizarre Twitter exchange after the latter posted a veiled tweet criticizing the tech billionaire.
The social media interaction came after Musk reached a deal earlier this week to buy Twitter for $44 billion.
“Tired of having to collectively stress about what explosion of hate crimes is happening bc some billionaire with an ego problem unilaterally controls a massive communication platform and skews it because Tucker Carlson or Peter Thiel took him to dinner and made him feel special,” the New York congresswoman wrote in a tweet.
“Stop hitting on me, I’m really shy,” Musk tweeted back with a smiley face.
Ocasio-Cortez responded to Musk in a now-deleted post, writing, “I was talking about Zuckerberg but ok,” Business Insider reported.
Reactions have been mixed about Musk’s decision to buy Twitter. Some users who believe that the platform has been stifling free speech cheered the news, as Musk has been openly critical of Twitter’s content moderation practices and has emphasized his commitment to free speech.
However, others worry that the Tesla and SpaceX CEO’s outlook on content moderation will lead to less restrictions for hateful and incendiary speech on the platform.
There have also been reports that Twitter employees are unhappy about Musk’s purchase. Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal faced heated backlash about the upcoming change in an internal town hall Friday, with one employee voicing concerns about “the very high likelihood that many employees will not have jobs after the deal closes.”