Elon Musk accepted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s challenge to fight him on national TV on Wednesday, writing to X he thinks the South American leader will “chicken out.”
The Tesla tech mogul, 53, and Maduro, 61, have gone after each other this week after Musk asserted that Venezuela’s election was fraudulent and that Maduro, the election’s winner, had actually been soundly defeated.
An enraged Maduro, often described as an autocrat, called out Musk by name in a tirade that was broadcasted Tuesday. Maduro declared he was a son of Hugo Chávez and Simón Bolívar, telling Musk he wasn’t afraid of taking him on anytime, anywhere.
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“Social media creates a virtual reality, and who controls the virtual reality? Our new archenemy, the famous Elon Musk,” Maduro said in Spanish. “Do you want to fight? Let’s do it, Elon Musk. I’m ready.”
The controversial South American leader added, “I’m not afraid of you, Elon Musk. Let’s fight, wherever you want.”
Maduro’s comments against Musk quickly went viral on X, with countless accounts tagging Musk in Maduro’s challenge. In response to one of the tweets about the clip, Musk replied simply, “I accept.”
Musk later added that he thinks Maduro would “chicken out” of a duel.
That claim is rich coming from Musk, who infamously ducked out of a cage match with Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, after weeks of teasing it. Musk claimed he had to call off that bout last summer because he needed back surgery. It’s unclear if Musk ever had that supposed procedure done.
Fighting aside, Musk’s criticism of Maduro and Venezuela’s election appears to hold merit. The Georgia-based Carter Center said in statement Tuesday it was unable to verify Venezuela’s election results, alleging authorities gave a “complete lack of transparency” and provided no individual polling tallies.
“The electoral authority’s failure to announce disaggregated results by polling station constitutes a serious breach of electoral principles,” the Carter Center said, adding that the election “cannot be considered democratic.”
