Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has accused SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk of attempting to disrupt peace and stability in the South American country.
Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, has accepted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s challenge to a fight, responding to accusations of election fraud.
Maduro, who was re-elected to a third term in recent elections, labeled Musk his “new archenemy” on Monday, accusing him of disrupting peace and stability in Venezuela.
Maduro’s challenge came after Musk claimed there was “major election fraud” during a national television address.
On Wednesday, entrepreneur Mario Nawfal posed the question on X (formerly Twitter): “Who had a Maduro vs Elon Fight on their 2024 Bingo Card?” Musk responded simply, writing “I accept.”
In a subsequent reply, the X owner stated that Maduro “will chicken out.”
Nawfal followed up with a new post, declaring that “Elon’s accepted Maduro’s challenge to fight… WHO WOULD WIN?”
Musk responded again, writing: “If I win, he resigns as dictator of Venezuela. If he wins, I give him a free ride to Mars.”
Musk has a history of provoking public figures into fights. The tech billionaire has long claimed he could defeat Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in a fight.
The public spat between Musk and the Venezuelan leader followed Musk’s posts about the results of the South American country’s presidential elections. The National Electoral Council (CNE) of Venezuela declared Maduro the winner of the election on Sunday, announcing that with 80% of ballots counted, he had secured more than 51% of the vote, compared to 44% for his main rival, Edmundo Gonzales.
Maduro will be serving a third consecutive six-year term, having first taken office in 2013 following the death of President Hugo Chavez. In his victory speech, he mocked the opposition, who, he claimed, “cries fraud” at every election. The Venezuelan president stated that his reelection would bring peace and stability.