Elon Musk has made many an enemy since his acquisition of Twitter for an estimated $44 billion.
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Even before he expressed interest in owning the company, Musk has been known to use the platform to be contentious with his rivals and trolls, and his latest duel with Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey is no exception.
Markey took to Twitter over the weekend to express his frustration after he claimed that a reporter at the Washington Post made a parody account impersonating him after buying a blue checkmark, going so far as to pen a lengthy letter to Musk to ask him how this happened and how it can be prevented.
A @washingtonpost reporter was able to create a verified account impersonating me—I’m asking for answers from @elonmusk who is putting profits over people and his debt over stopping disinformation. Twitter must explain how this happened and how to prevent it from happening again. pic.twitter.com/R4r7p6mduP
— Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) November 11, 2022
“Your Twitter takeover, rapid and haphazard imposition of platform changes, removal of safeguards against disinformation, and firing of large numbers of Twitter employees have accelerated Twitter’s descent into the Wild West. That is unacceptable,” Markey penned. “Twitter and its leadership have a responsibility to the public to ensure the platform doesn’t become a breeding ground for manipulation and deceit.”
Not one to take well to criticism, Musk quickly fired back at the senator, likening his account to being a “parody” and making fun of his profile photo.
And why does your pp have a mask!?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 13, 2022
Musk’s two-Tweet response received over 280,000 combined likes.
Markey was quick to quip back, calling out several of Musk’s other companies and the current investigations surrounding them, telling the billionaire to “fix” them first before starting fights on Twitter.
One of your companies is under an FTC consent decree. Auto safety watchdog NHTSA is investigating another for killing people. And you’re spending your time picking fights online. Fix your companies. Or Congress will. https://t.co/lE178gPRoM
— Ed Markey (@SenMarkey) November 13, 2022
The billionaire has also been known to duke it out with Senator Elizabeth Warren via Twitter, as the senator has been adamant about higher taxes on Musk and other billionaires, something Musk adamantly disagrees with.
“You remind me of when I was a kid and my friend’s angry Mom would just randomly yell at everyone for no reason,” he said to her on the platform last December.
As of Monday afternoon, Musk’s net worth was an estimated $198.8 billion.
