(Forbes) – Elon Musk has accepted an apparent invitation from embattled Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to physically fight after the world’s wealthiest man repeatedly took jabs at Maduro over what he has called “major election fraud” in the country and called the president a “dictator” on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter that Musk owns.
Key Facts:
Maduro and his opponents each claimed victory in a national election Sunday in which the release of official vote tallies were delayed before Madura was declared the winner with 51% of the vote—a result that has been widely called into question and Musk has since called fraud.
Musk also reposted a tweet from Argentine President Javier Milei calling on the socialist Maduro to “recognize the defeat after years of socialism, misery, decadence and death.”
Following Musk’s attacks, Maduro on Monday reportedly said on national television in Venezuela “Do you want to fight? Let’s do it. Elon Musk, I’m ready. I’m not afraid of you, Elon Musk. Let’s fight, wherever you want.”
On Wednesday afternoon, Musk tweeted “I accept” and responded to reports of his acceptance by saying, “He will chicken out.”
“If I win, he resigns as dictator of Venezuela,” Musk posted to X, before adding the offer, “If he wins, I give him a free ride to Mars.”
Maduro had not responded as of 3:30 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, and how or when the two powerful men would fight remains unclear.
The challenge by Maduro came after he called Musk a threat to Venezuela, labeling him “the representation of the fascist ideology, anti-natural, anti-society” and seemed to vaguely threaten him by saying, “Whoever gets involved with me dries out.”
Key Background:
Criticism has mounted against Maduro in the days since the disputed presidential election. Maduro promised free and fair elections, but allegations of interference have continued to mount as his opposition’s key leader was barred from running and witnesses for his opponent were allegedly denied access to the centralized vote count. The results, released after a delay, ultimately showed Maduro with 51% of the vote and retired diplomat Edmundo González with 44%. The opposition has claimed it beat Maduro by at least 3.9 million votes. Since then, deadly protests have led to the deaths of more than a dozen people around the country, and more than 1,000 people have been arrested. The country’s Supreme Court, which is closely aligned with Maduro’s government, has been asked to conduct an audit of the presidential election.
Tangent:
Musk in June of last year proposed a fight between himself and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who seemed to accept the invitation to brawl. A Meta spokesperson later claimed Zuckerberg was serious about taking on Musk, who in August said the brawl would be live-streamed on his platform. The “cage match” never came to fruition.
Crucial Quote:
“Maduro is a big guy himself and probably knows how to fight, so this would be a real fight,” Musk tweeted Wednesday afternoon. “Zuck is a little fella, so that would be a short fight lol.”
Forbes Valuation:
Musk, the co-founder of six companies, is the richest person in the world with an estimated net worth of $240.6 billion as of Wednesday. He bought Twitter in 2022 for $44 billion before renaming it X, and also owns stakes in his electric car maker Tesla and rocket producer SpaceX, among other companies.
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