Joe Biden Won’t Pay Elon Musk $8 for a Twitter Blue Check Either

thewrap.com:

sticks to his announcement from earlier this month, then at some point on April 1 — which on the west coast, as of this writing begins in approximately 45 minutes — Twitter’s account verification system will end; at that point, all so-called “legacy” verified accounts will lose their blue checkmarks, and only people willing to pay $8 a month for a subscription to Twitter Blue will get to have them.But as we’ve seen all week, the plan to convert “legacy” verified account holders into paid subscribers doesn’t appear, so far, to be a rollicking success.

Case in point, Musk’s apparent social media rival, President Joe Biden. In a memo, the White House informed staffers that it will not reimburse people who sign up for Twitter Blue. “Staff may purchase Twitter Blue on their personal social media accounts using personal funds,” Rob Flaherty, the Biden administration’s director of digital strategy, said.And per Axios, which first reported the story, the White House will not be buying a blue check for the President or other official white house accounts either.Joining Biden in refusing to give Musk money in exchange for being allowed to post free content on Twitter is NBA star LeBron James. “Welp guess my blue [check] will be gone soon cause if you know me I ain’t paying the 5,” the LA Lakers player tweeted.The White House and the “Space Jam 2” star aren’t alone in rejecting Musk’s subscription plan.

On Thursday it was confirmed that the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, Politico, Vox Media and Buzzfeed have all told their employees there will be no company subscriptions to Twitter Blue and no reimbursement for employees who decide to sign up.As WaPo put it in a memo to employees, “it’s evident that.