On April 1, Suarez (@FrancisSuarez) claimed that Twitter would be uprooting its headquarters and moving across the country from San Francisco to South Florida. "Twitter is Moving to Miami," he tweeted alongside two red siren emojis. "We are thrilled to announce on Monday we will be hosting a press conference to welcome @elonmusk & @Twitter to the Magic City!"
Although in step with the mayor's mission to lure the tech company to Miami and make the city the next Silicon Valley, the announcement was nothing more than a prank. Twitter swiftly fact-checked the tweet, appending a note to explain as much.
However, it appears the mayor's joke may not have landed with everyone.
By April 2, the Twitter app was mysteriously crashing for people who tried to visit Suarez's profile, as pointed out by Miami filmmaker Billy Corben's @BecauseMiami. A number of users confirmed that they found themselves booted from the app each time they clicked on the mayor's page. (His profile appears to still be accessible on the desktop version).
As of April 3, the app was still crashing for those who attempted to visit the mayor's profile.
Soledad Cedro, a spokesperson for Suarez, says Twitter has vowed to fix the issue.Since Miami Mayor Ponzi Postalita @FrancisSuarez posted his April Fools’ tweet about Twitter HQ moving to Miami, the Twitter app now shuts down whenever you search for or click on his profile. #BecauseMiami #AprilFools
— Because Miami (@BecauseMiami) April 3, 2023
"We did contact Twitter. They’re working on it," Cedro wrote in a statement to New Times via email. "They think it’s probably a glitch on their end, and [are] working on trying to solve it as soon as possible."
In response to @BecauseMiami's tweet, Suarez theorized that Twitter had him in the digital doghouse for his poorly executed prank.They must be punishing me for my insolence 😤🥹…and here I thought the whole time I had broken the recently released twitter algorithm…🔥🚀🤯
— Mayor Francis Suarez (@FrancisSuarez) April 3, 2023
"They must be punishing me for my insolence...and here I thought the whole time I had broken the recently released twitter algorithm..." the mayor wrote.
Suarez and Miami's tech bros have long begged Musk to move Twitter to Miami.
Back in December, hours after Musk fumed on Twitter about an investigation by San Francisco’s building department into the company converting space at its headquarters into bedrooms for employees, Suarez pounced on Musk's frustration and made an unsolicited proposal for Miami to become Twitter's new home.
“It's time to move Twitter headquarters to Miami," Suarez wrote on social media. "It's not about politics. It's about the soul of our country."
The suspiciously-timed Suarez Twitter bug comes amid a number of headline-grabbing moves by Musk, who just this week pulled the New York Times' Twitter verification badge after the newspaper indicated it wouldn't be coughing up money for Twitter Verified. Musk meanwhile has green-lit sudden overhauls including randomly changing the website logo to the antiquated Doge meme image and updating the Twitter app so you can no longer differentiate between users who pay for a blue checkmark and users who don't.
In response to New Times' request for comment for this story, Twitter responded with a single poop emoji, as it now does automatically to all press emails since gutting its communications team.
