Move over Mark Zuckerberg. 

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro fired back at Elon Musk on national television, challenging the billionaire to a fight. This comes as Musk said on X earlier this week that the country’s presidential election was a “travesty” riddled with election fraud. 

Venezuela’s National Electoral Council, loyal to Maduro and the ruling party, declared Maduro the winner of Sunday’s election with about 51% of the vote. This announcement came despite several exit polls indicating that the opposition candidate might have been the true winner. Turmoil has since erupted on city streets.

“Major election fraud by Maduro,” Musk wrote on X on Monday. 

Major election fraud by Maduro https://t.co/fi4xcSVd2Y

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 29, 2024

Citing several exit polls, Musk called the country’s presidential election a “travesty.” 

What a travesty https://t.co/OOfhyXs4Y3

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 29, 2024

“Maduro, leave! Venezuelans chose to end the communist dictatorship of Nicolas Maduro. The data announce a crushing victory of the opposition, and the world is waiting for you to recognize the defeat after years of socialism, misery, decadence and death,” Musk wrote in another post. 

Following Musk’s series of posts on X, Turkish state-run media Anadolu Agency cited a national television broadcast where Maduro challenged Musk to a fight: “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,” Maduro emphasized. 

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro challenges Elon Musk for a fight.

I challenge the Venezuelan President to conduct a fair election. pic.twitter.com/5Yah2URo4t

— DogeDesigner (@cb_doge) July 31, 2024

Anadolu Agency’s Laura Gamba quoted Maduro as saying, “Musk wants to come with his rockets and an army to invade Venezuela.” 

On Tuesday, Maduro told the Brazilian administration of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva that he will soon release election data with complete transparency to the world… 

All of this reminds us of the ‘color revolution’ – back in the 2019 unrest period, which centered on Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido trying to launch a coup with help from the United States.