Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his opponents both claimed victory in Sunday's national election, but the release of official vote tallies was delayed. Maduro was eventually declared the winner with 51 per cent of the vote, a result widely disputed.

Shortly after, Elon Musk took to the social media platform X to accuse the self-proclaimed socialist leader of “major election fraud".

“Shame on Dictator Maduro,” Musk said Monday on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter that Musk owns.

Musk also retweeted a comment on X by his “friend” Argentine President Javier Milei. “The numbers announced a landslide opposition by the victory and the world is waiting for the government to acknowledge defeat after years of socialism, misery, decadence and death,” Milei said.

Maduro was swift to respond to Musk’s social media posts, calling the billionaire a threat to Venezuela. “Elon Musk. Whoever messes with me, dries up. Whoever messes with Venezuela dries up, Elon Musk. You want to fight? Let’s have it, Elon Musk. I’m ready… I am not afraid of you. Let’s go at it, wherever you want… Just say where,” Maduro said on Wednesday.

“He wants to come here with his guns and an army to invade Venezuela. Elon Musk, good thing you showed your face because we knew you were behind it all! With your money and your satellites,” the president said.

Musk accepted Maduro's apparent invitation to a physical fight, posting on X, "I accept… He will chicken out." 

In another tweet, Elon said: “If I win, he resigns as dictator of Venezuela. If he wins, I give him a free ride to Mars.”

This is not the first time Musk has proposed a fight. In June of last year proposed a fight between himself and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who seemed to accept the invitation to brawl. 

A Meta spokesperson later claimed Zuckerberg was serious about taking on Musk, who in August said the brawl would be live-streamed on his platform. The "cage match" never came to fruition.