Elon Musk just picked on the wrong lawmaker.
After the billionaire lashed out at Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) on Sunday over the latter’s request for information on Twitter’s new verification policy, Markey hit back, warning him to “fix his companies” lest Congress step in.
“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,” Markey tweeted at Musk. “Fix your companies. Or Congress will.”
The scolding comes after a Washington Post reporter successfully set up an imposter Twitter account masquerading as the real Markey on Friday. The experiment led the senator to send Musk a letter, asking him to “explain how this happened and how to prevent it from happening again.”
Musk responded by taking a swipe at Markey, tweeting, “Perhaps it is because your real account sounds like a parody?”
The 76-year-old senator sits on the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, as well as its subcommittee on consumer protection and data security. The committee oversees both the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
After his spat with Markey, Musk on Monday said he has “too much work” on his plate. The tech boss told a virtual Q&A at the B20 business summit in Indonesia that he was “working the absolute most” that he can, which included a “morning to night, seven days a week,” schedule. “The amount that I torture myself is next level, frankly,” he added.
His comments come just days after he axed half of Twitter’s staff and ended remote working for those who escaped the cuts.
