You might not expect the world’s richest man to engage in a lot of online back-and-forth, but Elon Musk is no stranger to online trolling. And now, he has once again taunted Russia through Twitter.
The tech billionaire has been no stranger to taunting Russian leadership for their invasion of Ukraine. Now, following a Chechen warlord’s attempted diss, Musk is at it again.
Musk challenged Vladimir Putin to a fight.
Earlier this week, Musk followed up on earlier support for Ukraine with a direct challenge to Russian president Vladimir Putin . In a tweet, Musk said he “hereby” challenges Putin to “single combat” with Ukraine as the stakes.
He actually got a response.
In our original reporting, we said that Musk was unlikely to get a response. While Putin himself didn’t respond, one of his lackeys — Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov — did.
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Kadyrov mocked Musk.
In a lengthy post on Telegram, Kadyrov said Musk and Putin are in “two completely different weight classes.” He topped the whole thing off by referring to Musk as “tender Elona,” feminizing his name.
Musk seemed unfazed by the whole thing.
Musk reposted Kadyrov’s fighting words, along with a screengrab showing a full translation. Notably, Kadyrov’s post contains suggestions for places in Chechnya Musk might go to work on his fighting skills.
Musk is still spoiling for a fight.
Musk then issued a reply, graciously thanking Kadyrov for his suggestions, but saying they’d give him too much of an advantage. He then said he, a right-hander, was willing to fight Putin with only his left hand. Finally, as a coup de grâce, he signed his statement, “Elona.” He also briefly changed his Twitter handle to “Elona Musk.”
The exchange blew up Twitter.
This tweet showcases what could be the fight of the 21st century: a despotic strongman brought up during the Cold War, and a tech visionary who plays with flamethrowers for fun.
Elon’s mom even got involved.
Musk’s mom, Maye Musk, had some fun with things by saying her son, who she referred to as “Elona,” is so pretty. Accompanying her tweet was an image of what Elon Musk might look like as Elona.
Kadyrov wasn’t the only Putin ally to reply to Musk’s challenge, either.
Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Russia’s space agency — with whom Musk exchanged pleasantries over each nation’s ability to reach orbit — also chimed in, tweeting “You, little devil, are still young. Compete with me weakling. It would only be a waste of time.”
It’s the latest development in a frankly surreal saga.
After a global pandemic, not many of us had ‘Russia toys with starting WW3 while Elon Musk stands up to them’ on our bingo card for 2022, but here we are. Let us know what you think of this weird story in the comments section.
