President Barack Obama said today that the administration is working with top private tech companies to resolve the numerous technical issues with Healthcare.gov, the website where Americans are supposed to be able to purchase insurance under the new Affordable Health Care Act.
He didn't specify which tech companies were involved, but it looks like Microsoft — or at least one person with access to the Internet Explorer Twitter account — wants to help.
Hello @BarackObama politics aside... we can help you with your website #Obamacare
— Internet Explorer (@IE) October 21, 2013
"Hello @BarackObama politics aside... we can help you with your website #Obamacare," the official Internet Explorer account tweeted shortly after the president gave a speech about Healthcare.gov's woes.
It appears to be a marketing ploy to insert the Microsoft browser into the national conversation. The president compared the bumpy rollout of Healthcare.gov to the bugs in the latest iPhone software update. It'd be great for Microsoft if Internet Explorer could be seen as a potential fix.
It's unclear if the offer is meant seriously or in jest. We've reached out to Microsoft for comment.
Update, 1:55PM: Microsoft confirmed that the tweet is a legitimate offer to the administration.
Update, 8:27PM: Microsoft has had a change of heart and removed the tweet. "It was a tweet from a single IE marketer and is not representative of Microsoft as a whole, as such we have deleted the tweet," a rep said in an email.