Billionaire Elon Musk has accepted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s challenge to fight him on national TV. The SpaceX and Tesla chief and social network X owner has taken to his platform to respond to Maduro’s challenge. He tweeted, “I accept,” after which everyone is reacting online.
Amid the political turmoil in Caracas for some time now, animosity has been brewing between Elon Musk and Nicolas Maduro. Nicolas Maduro’s recent election victory was controversial and he has found an enemy in Elon Musk, a supporter of Donald Trump. This ideological clash has pitted billionaire Elon Musk against Nicolas Maduro. Nicolas Maduro has risen from a simple bus driver to the position of president of an economically struggling nation.
Nicolas Maduro has accused Elon Musk of plotting attacks against Venezuela. He accuses the tech giant of being behind an alleged “computer hacking” at the National Electoral Council (CNE). The CNE controversially declared Maduro the winner of the latest vote without providing detailed data, leading to allegations of manipulation.
After Elon Musk made public comments against him, Maduro responded, saying, “Social media creates a virtual reality, and who controls this virtual reality? Our new archenemy, the famous Elon Musk.” “Do you want to fight? Let’s do it. Elon Musk, I’m ready,” he said. “I’m not afraid of you, Elon Musk. Let’s fight, wherever you want.”
Elon Musk has responded to many people who reacted to this on Twitter. In one post, Musk called Maduro a “big man”, while taking a dig at Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, calling him a “small man”. He wrote in the post, “Maduro is a big man and probably knows how to fight, so it will be a real fight. Zuckerberg is small, so it will be a small fight with him…”
Musk bet, “If I win, he will resign as dictator of Venezuela. If he wins, I will give him a free trip to Mars.” Following the Venezuelan election results, Musk expressed his disagreement, calling Maduro a “dictator” and describing the election as “ridiculous”. He also posted the US Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) 2020 announcement about criminal charges against Maduro for drug trafficking, which included a $15 million reward for information leading to his arrest.
Maduro reacted sharply to this. He claimed, “He wants to come here to invade Venezuela with his guns and army. Elon Musk, it’s good you showed your face because we knew you were behind this with your money and your satellites.”
Elon Musk responded to this in Spanish, saying, “Any asshole would know more than Maduro.” He then issued a ridiculous apology, writing, “Sorry I compared Maduro to a donkey. It was an insult to animals.”