Billionaire mogul Elon Musk has agreed to fight the president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, in what’s become the latest chapter in the banal saga of grown people who want fight each other over social media comments.
The conflict escalated on July 31 when Musk posted what was perceived by many as incendiary remarks on X.com indicating that he was “coming for” Maduro and would “carry” him “to Gitmo on a donkey.” With "Gitmo" being an apparent reference to the US federal detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Musk’s remarks appeared to come in response to the insinuation that Maduro had personally called Musk out in a video clip appearing on X.com. A “community notes” addendum was quickly placed beneath the clip explaining that Maduro had made no such mention.
The poster of the clip, right-wing political commentator Ian Miles Cheong, subsequently claimed his comments stating that Maduro had specifically mentioned Musk were made in jest. It’s unclear at this time whether Musk’s response was also meant to be humorous.
In other X.com commentary Musk called Maduro a “dictator” and retweeted calls from Argentinian president Javier Milei for Maduro to resign amid a Venezuelan electoral controversy.
For his part, Maduro reportedly referred to Musk as “the representation of the fascist ideology, anti-natural, anti-society” and issued what appeared to be a warning: “whoever gets involved with me dries out.”
Maduro ultimately challenged Musk to a fight, saying “I’m not afraid of you, Elon Musk. Let’s fight, wherever you want.” Musk responded on X with a post stating simply “I agree” and another stating that “he will chicken out.”
Chicken?
It bears mention that Musk’s last foray into the fight world was an anticlimactic one. In June of 2023 he and Mark Zuckerberg publicly agreed to a fight after years of public bickering.
Initially billed as a “cage match,” Zuckerberg reportedly requested a private bout while Musk had, eventually, stated that the fight should happen at the Coliseum in Rome, Italy, with any proceeds to go to charity.
Talks related to the bout stalled after Musk said he’d have to postpone over an alleged surgery he’d need prior to the fight.
The rivalry may have been rekindled on July 24 when Musk, prior to an appearance on Capitol Hill in Washington DC, said he’d fight Zuckerberg “any place, any time, any rules” in a post shared on X.com by Fox News producer Kelly Phares.
Zuckerberg’s response, posted on Meta’s Threads platform, was simply “are we really doing this again?”
The prize
The terms of the fight — if it even comes to fruition — remain unknown. But Musk did float the idea that if he won Maduro would have to resign his presidency. In return, were Maduro to win, Musk said he’d give him “a free ride to Mars.” It’s unclear at this time if Musk was making another attempt at being humorous.
Meanwhile, it’s possible that the real winners, whether the fight occurs or not, will end up being Mark Zuckerberg and Meta.
At best, Musk stands to gain all the admiration and respect that comes from winning a physical contest against a 61-year-old career politician. Musk turned 53 on June 28, 2024.
And, at worst, Musk will either be party to another yawn-fest of a fight challenge that ends up going nowhere or he’ll get beat up by someone he traded trash talk with on social media.
Win or lose, the conflict doesn’t appear to be the kind of thing that pumps revenues.
Meanwhile, Meta’s jumped back into the number seven spot in global market capitalization after posting revenue increases of 20% or greater in four consecutive quarters. During the company’s Q2 2024 earnings call on July 31, Meta reported $39 billion in revenue largely attributable to its advertising sales.
X.com, on the other hand, is allegedly struggling to break even. As a private company, it isn’t required to report its earnings. We can’t be sure exactly how much revenue the platform brings in, nor how much of its earnings come from advertising, but recently leaked documents indicate that it’s performing far worse since Musk’s takeover and may be operating at or near even margins.
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