Elon Musk couldn’t resist taking a swipe at Mark Zuckerberg while accepting a challenge to fight Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. On Wednesday, Musk responded to Maduro’s challenge—issued after Musk accused him of election fraud—by saying he was ready for a showdown. But in typical Musk fashion, he didn’t stop there.
” Maduro is a big guy himself and probably knows how to fight, so this would be a real fight”, Musk wrote on X ( formerly Twitter ). ” Zuck is a little man, so that would be a little fight lol”.
More than a year after Musk initially made the rumor that Zuckerberg’s business was developing a rival to Musk’s X, Musk’s X received a shot at Zuckerberg. Despite the back-and-forth trash talk between the two technical tycoons, the fight not materialized, with Zuckerberg dismissing Musk’s bluster as merely talk.
” If he ever agrees on an exact time, you’ll learn it from me. Before then, take the time to accept any statements that have n’t been reached in an agreement,” Zuckerberg wrote on Threads in August, downplaying Musk’s repeated references to a potential cage match.
Musk has n’t relinquished his public statements to world leaders even with the Zuckerberg controversy. Musk infamously urged Vladimir Putin to” one combat” after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, though the conflict remained a speculative.
‘Major election fraud‘
The confrontation began when Musk, CEO of Tesla, SpaceX, and owner of X ( formerly Twitter ), accused Maduro of “major election fraud” following the controversial Venezuelan presidential election.
Both Maduro and his opponent, Edmundo González, claimed victory, but the National Electoral Council ( CNE ) declared Maduro the winner without releasing detailed results, leading to widespread allegations of election rigging.
Maduro, in a national television spread, accused Musk of orchestrating cyber-attacks against Venezuela and blamed him for a supposed” system hacking” event at the CNE. ” Social internet create a virtual truth, and who controls the electronic reality? Elon Musk, our fresh adversary, is renowned. Do you want to struggle? Let’s do it. Elon Musk, I’m available. I’m not frightened of you, Elon Musk. This battle, wherever you want”, Maduro declared.
Musk responded on X with a strong statement:” I’m coming for you Maduro”! He also made fun of riding a horse to take Maduro to Guantanamo Bay.
Musk’s condemnation of Maduro escalated after the election results were announced, labeling Maduro a “dictator” and the election a” travesty”. In reply, Maduro accused Musk of planning an invasion of Venezuela, stating,” He wants to come around with his artillery and an army to invade Venezuela. We knew you were responsible for everything, so it’s a good thing you flashed your experience, Elon Musk! With your income and your observatories”.
Musk more upped the stakes by suggesting words for the combat:” If I win, he resigns as tyrant of Venezuela. If he wins, I give him a free trip to Mars”.
