Source: Anadolu Agency / Getty
A lot of people are understandably concerned about Elon Musk‘s purchase of Twitter because we all know that when privileged white men start talking about “freedom of speech,” they tend to be specifically fighting for the freedom to be ignorant, bigoted and prone to ridiculous conspiracy theories that trade critical thinking for pseudo-intellectualism.
And if Musk was looking to prove that he isn’t trying to return the platform to its pre-Trump ban roots of being a dumping ground for remedial dude-bros with all the intellectual prowess of a deer galloping toward headlights, he’s not getting off to a good start with his response to congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
On Friday, AOC tweeted out her concerns about Twitter being turned into a cesspool of misinformation and hate speech causing a possible “explosion of hate crimes.”
“Tired of having to collectively stress about what explosion of hate crimes is happening [because] 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,” she tweeted in response to Musk’s Twitter acquisition. Now, some might believe AOC was being a little alarmist, and that’s just their opinion, but whatever you think about Musk buying Twitter, a decent purpose would agree that AOC’s tweet didn’t warrant Musk’s petty and immature response.
“Stop hitting on me, I’m really shy,” he replied.
Stop hitting on me, I’m really shy
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 29, 2022
Sexualizing the legit criticism of a woman speaking in a professional capacity by suggesting that she's just attracted to you?
I know your whole thing is stealing other people's jokes because you aren't clever enough to come up with your own, Elon, but this is sad, even for you.
— Kendall Brown (@kendallybrown) April 29, 2022
Seriously, this is a 50-year-old man responding to a U.S. lawmaker like he’s a 15-year-old who’s still learning how to talk to girls.
Maybe Musk was just feeling a little hit-dog-hollery because, earlier that same day, AOC had been tweeting about billionaires getting all whiny because the most powerful people in the world are fearful that “the extreme far left is taking over.”
The number of billionaires in the US couldn’t even fill an apartment building, but the number of people they negatively impact is only growing.
All the US billionaire votes combined couldn’t even come in 2nd for an NY city council election. That’s why they stay pressed
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) April 29, 2022
Regardless of why Musk responded to AOC the way he did, it’s clear that this crusader for free speech doesn’t actually have much to say that is of any value.
Sad.