AOC Says Her Twitter Notifications Down After Spat With Elon Musk

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said late Wednesday that her Twitter mentions and notifications "aren't working" a few hours after she had a public spat with the social media platform's new owner, Elon Musk. Ocasio-Cortez, also popularly known as AOC, initiated an exchange of tweets with Musk when she questioned the tech billionaire's plan of charging $8 for verified Twitter accounts.

The Democratic representative tweeted her mentions and notifications were "conveniently" not working Wednesday night.

"I was informed via text that I seem to have gotten under a certain billionaire's skin," Ocasio-Cortez said. "Just a reminder that money will never by [buy] your way out of insecurity, folks."

AOC first kicked off the Twitter exchange with Musk when she, like many other Twitter users, questioned why Musk is trying to "sell people on the idea that 'free speech' is actually a $8/mo subscription plan."

David Sacks, the founder of podcast platform Callin, responded to AOC's tweet and asked why the news outlets like The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Atlantic are not free services. The politician replied that legacy newspapers "actually care about verifying newsworthy sources."

AOC went on to mention Musk's Tuesday announcement that paid verified accounts will be prioritized in terms of Twitter replies, mentions and searches.

Musk joined the conversation by posting a photo of a Periwinkle Supporter Crew Sweatshirt sold on the official online shop of Ocasio-Cortez's team. The Neuralink founder highlighted the price of the sweatshirt, which was being sold at $58.

Ocasio-Cortez bounced back, stating that she was proud of the products as her workers were not "subject to racist treatment in their workplaces." She went on to advise the SpaceX founder to respect "working people" instead of "union-busting," seemingly alluding to Musk's previous comment that he was against Tesla workers unionizing.

The 51-year-old tech billionaire seems to have ended the conversation by saying that while he appreciates the U.S. representative's feedback, she should pay $8.

This is not the first time AOC and Musk have traded jabs. Last spring, the congresswoman reportedly suggested that hate crimes were exploding because "some billionaire with an ego problem unilaterally controls a massive communication platform."

At that time, Musk responded to the Democrat representative's post. "Stop hitting on me, I'm really shy," the tech billionaire said. AOC hit back, saying he was actually talking about Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

Musk has yet to explain whether governments and existing verified accounts will be required to pay $8 to retain their blue checkmarks.