Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has responded after comfortably winning a popularity poll on Twitter between himself and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).
David Weissman, a Twitter user who describes himself as a “former Republican, former Trump supporter, and proud Liberal Dem,” initiated the vote after Musk invited Ocasio-Cortez to conduct a poll on Twitter comparing the popularity of politicians and billionaires.
After more than 370,000 Twitter users voted, the end result was about an 80–20 split in favor of Musk.
In replying to Weissman, Musk wrote in a tweet May 28, “At first, I thought this was a parody.”
The poll came after Musk challenged Ocasio-Cortez to replicate a poll Musk started on May 26 with his followers on whether they trust politicians or billionaires less.
His poll garnered about 3.4 million votes with more than 75 percent of the votes saying they trust politicians less than billionaires.
The popularity contests came after an unfriendly Twitter episode in April between Ocasio-Cortez and Musk in which the congresswoman obliquely criticized his plans to acquire the social media platform, calling him “some billionaire with an ego problem.”
“Stop hitting on me, I’m really shy,” Musk replied in an April 29 tweet.
The quarrel between Ocasio-Cortez and Musk signifies a shift in the Democratic congresswoman’s stance on Tesla; she had previously publicly endorsed the EV maker.