Wow, it escalated quickly.
Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) reacted furiously to Elon Musk’s tweet regarding the slow rollout of the new Blue verification process.
It all started when Markey made comments about the ongoing turbulence around Twitter’s new verification process. Musk repeatedly admitted that the process is still in development. Markey shared the story of a Washington Post journalist on how they created a verified Markey Account.
“A verified account was created by @washingtonpost to impersonate my name. I am asking @elonmusk questions. Markey tweeted that he is putting profits before people and his debt, rather than disinformation. In protest of the possibility that he was being impersonated, he attached a scary-looking letter.
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
Musk responded to Markey’s pearl-clutching mail by using humor. “Perhaps it’s just because your real account sounds absurd?”
The comment attracted quickly the attention of lurking Democrats, who quickly defended Markey’s comments and warned Musk (a billionaire entrepreneur) not to criticize a U.S senator sitting on multiple committees that could impact Musk’s business dealings.
Musk understood that Musk didn’t trigger Markey and would not come after him. This is similar in nature to the treatment President Biden’s FBI/DOJ gives conservatives they don’t like.
The threat was made public via a Twitter account called “People For Bernie”.
Perhaps it is because your real account sounds like a parody?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 13, 2022
Musk immediately reacted to the suggestion that he might have been threatened by being accused of exercising his right to freedom of expression in his constant brilliance.
Musk replied, stifling the Bernie dullards.
Musk laughed at Markey’s absurdly ridiculous profile picture. This is Musk in a mask, 2022 when the president declared that the pandemic was over.
Musk tweeted, “And why does [profile photo] your profile picture has a mask? Musk’s tweet generated thousands of laughs, virtual cheers, and ridicules at the powerful Democratic senator.
Perhaps it is because your real account sounds like a parody?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 13, 2022
But it wasn’t over. This back-and-forth took a dark and disturbing turn.
Markey was apparently annoyed by the jokes made about Senator. He immediately mounted his Washington, D.C. horse to carry Congress’ full weight, in an attempt to threaten Musk’s businesses.
Markey responded by claiming that one of your companies was subject to an FTC consent decree.
Translation: You are a joke, peasant.
Conservative watchdog Tom Fitton was the first to reply to Markey’s snarky reply. He tweeted “Leftist senator threatens an American citizen.”
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
Another user wrote: “Wow senator! Threatening a businessman?” At the time of writing, there were likely thousands of similar statements.
Markey is like many Democrats. Markey threatened to use Congress against a citizen of America or his business after the abuses of power under Biden.
While I have issues with Twitter’s current status (e.g., my legacy-verified Twitter account was taken over by a hacker days before the election), Musk’s actions were the highlight of my day. As Twitter becomes more enjoyable, I am looking forward to more interactions.
