Exchange of blows with Kyiv
Elon Musk makes fun of Zelensky
October 2, 2023, 3:09 p.m
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He can’t help it: After his extremely questionable post about German sea rescue, Tesla boss Elon Musk is now sending a provocative message to Kiev: With a meme, he criticizes President Zelensky’s efforts for military aid. The Ukrainian parliament reacted promptly.
There has been an exchange of blows between the Ukrainian parliament and the US billionaire Elon Musk. The Tesla boss, who is increasingly using his Internet platform X to send his own political messages, made fun of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a tweet. So he posted a meme from a tense-looking Zelenskyj and accompanied it with the remark that this is what he looked like when he hadn’t called for new billions in aid for five minutes.
The Ukrainian parliament then posted a picture of Musk on its official website and wrote: “If after 5 minutes you haven’t spread Russian propaganda.” However, the post was later deleted. Musk’s tweet angered many users. For example, Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Goncharenko commented: “I wonder if there will be a day when Musk doesn’t say anything stupid?” Another user writes: “Because Zelenskyj dares to defend himself against Putin, something Elon would never dare to do.”
In recent days, the Tesla founder has repeatedly joined criticism from US Republicans that the US government is providing too much help to Ukraine. This is seen as politically sensitive because Musk also owns the company SpaceX, which provides Starlink satellite communications services vital to Ukraine’s defense efforts. He had repeatedly threatened to restrict this use.
Musk comments on “Spiegel” in German
Musk has recently been increasingly vocal about political issues, especially with anti-migration statements about the American southern border or sea rescue in the Mediterranean. He has also already interfered in German migration policy. For example, he shared a post on
The post shared by Musk claims that eight German ships belonging to non-governmental organizations are currently taking in refugees from the Mediterranean to bring them to Italy. “Is the German public aware of this?” wrote Musk. The answer from the Foreign Office didn’t take long to arrive: “Yes, it’s called saving lives,” the ministry wrote on X.
When “Spiegel” also took up the exchange of blows between Musk and the German ministry on the platform, the billionaire did not leave it uncommented. “You don’t have all your cups in the cupboard anymore,” he commented in German under the post.