A person wearing a "Doge" baseball cap and blazer stands with arms crossed, appearing thoughtful, in an official-looking room with flags in the background

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Joyce Carol Oates, 87, is an acclaimed American writer, best known for novels like A Garden of Earthly Delights and Blonde.

Person with glasses, wearing a textured black top and pearl necklace, speaks into a microphone at an event

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You’re obviously wondering how these two connect. It all started when Roland Gutierrez, a Texas state senator, posted a video saying that Musk is poised to become a trillionaire “on the backs of the American taxpayer.”

You won’t be shocked to hear that Musk didn’t like it very much. He replied on his own platform, X, saying that Gutierrez is a “taker, not a maker. All you’ve done your whole life is take from the makers of the world.” He also wrote, “I have been given nothing.”

Summary of text: A person is criticized for taking credit for others' work. Tesla is noted for becoming a top company; shareholders disagree with the critic's view

elonmusk / Via x.com

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That’s when Oates stepped in. “So curious that such a wealthy man never posts anything that indicates that he enjoys or is even aware of what virtually everyone appreciates— scenes from nature, pet dog or cat, praise for a movie, music, a book (but doubt that he reads); pride in a friend’s or relative’s accomplishment; condolences for someone who has died; pleasure in sports, acclaim for a favorite team; references to history. In fact he seems totally uneducated , uncultured. The poorest persons on Twitter may have access to more beauty & meaning in life than the ‘most wealthy person in the world,’” she wrote.

Summary of a tweet about a wealthy man's lack of appreciation for arts and empathy compared to less wealthy individuals, highlighting cultural deficiencies

JoyceCarolOates / Via x.com

Musk didn’t like that one very much either.

Tweet claiming a post about the author is false and criticizes the poster as a liar and abuser of semicolons

elonmusk / Via x.com

He’s not even mad, though, guys.

Tweet by Elon Musk criticizing someone named Oates, calling them a liar and not a good person

elonmusk / Via x.com

Soooo chill about all of this, in fact.

Tweet by Elon Musk mocking Oates' work as pretentious, comparing it to eating sawdust

elonmusk / Via x.com

In response, Oates suggested a sawdust recipe I personally can’t wait to try.

Tweet joking about improving the taste of sawdust by stirring it with tofu

JoyceCarolOates / Via x.com

In the world of not-almost-trillionaires, people were obsessed with Oates’s read of the Tesla CEO.

Social media post with comments discussing someone's ability to afford any experience or purchase anything they want, highlighting wealth

iAMYStifiEdLF / Bluesky / Via x.com

Tweet by @ratlimit: "pinch his wretched little dick off you icon" with 5 retweets, 44 quote tweets, 5.9K likes, and 76K views

ratlimit / Via x.com

Tweet by Boze the Library Owl: "this is the single most devastating burn I've ever read." With 27 comments, 49 retweets, 2.4K likes, and 97K views

SketchesbyBoze / Via x.com

Tweet by Techno_occult about the irony of someone wealthy claiming, "I have been given nothing," in reference to using family wealth

Techno_occult / Via x.com

One person said that Musk “seems to have no capacity for a normal level of appreciation” and wants to leave everywhere (e.g., South Africa, Canada, Earth). “that’s because when he gets there, he has brought his own self along; & whatever club he’s invited to join has been devalued by the invitation,” Oates replied.

Joyce Carol Oates comments on a tweet about someone's habit of leaving places, implying they devalue situations by their presence

JoyceCarolOates / Via x.com

People also noticed that Musk seemed to immediately start posting about film and literature. Many thought it was an effort to prove himself “cultured” against Oates’s point.