Ocasio-Cortez to Musk: ‘Sometimes being quiet’ is ‘good for you’

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (DN.Y.) and tech billionaire Elon Musk clashed on social media Wednesday over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress after Musk called the Democratic Party a “openly and boldly anti-Semitic”.

The back-and-forth began after Musk responded to a post by Ocasio-Cortez on her social platform X about her and several other Democrats’ decision to boycott Netanyahu’s speech to a joint session of Congress.

“Just to be clear, Netanyahu has lost so many people that he is only addressing a fraction of Congress,” Ocasio-Cortez said. he wrote. “When this happens, they fill the seats with non-members, as they do at awards ceremonies, to project the appearance of full presence and support.”

Musk, who attended the Israeli leader’s speech at the Capitol, responded: “The Democratic Party has become openly and boldly anti-Semitic.”

“Hmm,” Ocasio-Cortez responded, “sometimes being quiet is free and good for you,” adding a screenshot of a Wall Street Journal article about when Musk appeared to agree with an anti-Semitic post last year.

Musk came under fire last November after engaging with a post about an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory that suggested anti-Semitism was practiced by minorities and that Jewish people were to blame. This claim echoes false conspiracy theories that claim that the Jewish people want to flood Western countries with minorities.

The Hill has reached out to Musk’s team for comment.

Netanyahu’s joint speech to Congress this week highlighted the bitter division among lawmakers over US policy toward Israel in its war with the Palestinian militant group Hamas. The war, sparked by Hamas’ deadly Oct. 7 attacks on southern Israel, has killed more than 39,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to local health officials.

The speech was boycotted by several Democrats in protest over Netanyahu’s refusal to end the war and his inability to secure the release of all hostages held by Hamas since the October 7 attack.

A coalition of advocacy groups gathered around the Capitol to protest the speech and demand the arrest of Netanyahu, who has been charged with war crimes by the International Criminal Court.

Musk and Ocasio-Cortez have butted heads several times on social media, including last summer when the progressive New Yorker criticized X’s security measures.

Ocasio-Cortez has publicly criticized the platform on multiple occasions since Musk’s takeover, from criticizing the billionaire for suspending several journalists from the social media platform to accusing Musk of promoting a fake Twitter account impersonating her.

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story