Elon Musk has hit back at Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez after she criticized his decision to implement a fee for verification on Twitter.
In a tweet posted to the platform on Wednesday, the CEO of Tesla told AOC to "pay up" after she blasted him for his new 'blue tick' policy which will see Twitter users pay $8 for a subscription.
On Tuesday night, AOC tweeted writing: "Lmao at a billionaire earnestly trying to sell people on the idea that ‘free speech’ is actually a $8/mo subscription plan."
Musk wasn't directly tagged, but it seems as though he must have stumbled across the post, because within a few hours, he responded back to her saying: "Your feedback is appreciated, now pay $8."
Others also jumped to Musk's defense telling the 33-year-old politician that she didn't "have to pay," if she didn't want to.
But the back and forth didn't end there.
In another indirect tweet, AOC joked that she had "gotten under a certain billionaire’s skin" with a laughing emoji and it seems as though Musk didn't appreciate her candor as he then started pulling out the petty screenshots.
Taking a snapshot from her official website, Musk highlighted the fact that the congresswoman was charging $58 for a sweatshirt - but she wasn't having any of it.
Jumping to her own defense, she snapped back: "My workers are union, have full healthcare + benefits like childcare help, and every one [sic] is paid a living wage. Proceeds go to community acts like tutoring underserved kids.
"You’re a union buster with an ego problem who pockets the change from underpaying and mistreating people."
Ouch.
AOC joins a list of other celebrities that have hit back at the 51-year-old entrepreneur for his latest decisions.
Late-night talk show host Trevor Noah also slammed Musk on an episode of The Daily Show saying: "...Why are you charging people? It doesn’t make sense to offer it as ‘equality’ and then put a price on it, do you get what I’m saying? Can you imagine if MLK was out there like, ‘I have a dream. I have a dream… and I’ll tell you all about it for $8.99 a month.’ It wouldn’t be the same thing."
He continued: "'It’s all about ‘equality.’ No, you’re trying to make money. I get it. I think this $ 8-a-month thing is ridiculous. If you ask me, if Elon Musk wants to make money from Twitter, what he should do [is], don’t charge people for blue checkmarks. Charge white people to say the N-word. Twitter will be the most profitable company in history.
"Racists will be taking out loans."
The news comes after Twitter's new self-proclaimed "Chief Twit" announced that he was going to charge social media users an $8 premium for verification on the platform as well as other 'exclusive' features such as the ability to post longer videos and become a priority in replies.
"Twitter’s current lords & peasants system for who has or doesn’t have a blue checkmark is b*******," he wrote in a tweet. "Power to the people! Blue for $8/month."