Twitter employee calls Elon Musk mentally handicapped, says company not here to give people free speech

The last few weeks have been both exhilarating and exhausting for Twitter employees. After they received the shocking news that Elon Musk would soon be the new boss of Twitter, the employees were left baffled as soon as the world’s richest person said he would make changes to the company’s management after the takeover. A few employees were recently fired, while some are leaving the company voluntarily. Now, an anguished Twitter executive has called Musk “mentally handicapped” and highlighted his condition of Asperger’s syndrome while saying that Twitter is not here to give people free speech.

Alex Martinez, Twitter’s Lead Client Partner, spoke to an undercover Project Veritas journalist where he had to say some awful things about Musk. A video shared by Benny Johnson, a famous American journalist, puts the spotlight on Martinez where he not only bashed Musk but also said some controversial things about the social media website.

“Well, right now we don’t make profit. So, it’s gonna say ideology, which is what’s led us into not being profitable. The rest of us who have been here, believe in something that’s good for the planet and not just to give people free speech,” Martinez told the journalist.

Free speech is what Musk wants to propagate on Twitter. It is because of his will to give users the freedom to speak anything they want that Musk, who thinks he is a free-speech absolutist, proposed the buyout. “Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” said Musk in a statement. And his commitment to bringing free speech to Twitter is so highly driven that he even invited his “worst critics” to continue tweeting on the microblogging platform — a move human rights groups are openly condemning.

Martinez did not just stop there. He questioned Musk’s sincerity towards Twitter and whether he will uphold what he has claimed ever since announcing the buyout. That is fine because Musk is unpredictable. You can never guess if he is serious or if he is just joking. But Martinez said that Musk cannot be taken seriously because he is “mentally handicapped” and is suffering from Asperger’s syndrome.

“There’s a statement they (Twitter Board Members) need all 7,000 people to say. And so they can’t like tell us what like the real truth. He (Elon Musk) has Asperger’s. So, he’s (Elon Musk) special.”

Asperger’s syndrome is a medical condition in which a person has a developmental disorder related to autism and is characterised by awkwardness in social interaction, pedantry in speech, and preoccupation with very narrow interests. Musk, during a Saturday Night Live (SNL) episode, confirmed that he has Asperger’s.

“I’m like, you’re (Elon Musk) special needs — you’re literally special needs. So, I can’t even take what you’re (Elon Musk) saying seriously. Targeting of Tweeps (Twitter Employees). Wait. You can read it,” he told the journalist.

Martinez also defended Twitter’s policies aimed at curbing misinformation — which Elon Musk openly criticises for not being good enough. “Cause again, like these people (Twitter employees) really do believe in what we’re doing. There are the policies we (Twitter) put in place for misinformation or mislabeling media or whatever. Why do you think this should be taken down? Those are the questions they’re going to ask him (Elon Musk). And it’s going to be hard for him (Elon Musk) to be like, ‘uh, because people should make their own decision[s]’.”

Musk’s reaction

Whatever Martinez said about Musk and Twitter in the video shared by Johnson was apparently seen by the Tesla boss and he responded. Twitter exec trashing free speech & mocking people with Asperger’s” he wrote while replying to Johnson’s tweet.