‘Get Help’ – Elon Musk Blasted for Mocking Ukraine With Fake Zelensky Picture The world’s richest man has continued his campaign against Kyiv, this time by using a fake picture of President Zelensky to mock Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s full-scale invasion.
by Kyiv Post | October 2, 2023
Elon Musk has once again caused outrage for social media posts about Ukraine, this time for mocking President Zelensky and the ongoing crisis over US funding for Kyiv.
In a post on X on Sunday evening, the world’s richest man published a modified version of the “frustrated boy meme” with a picture of the Ukrainian president’s face.
The post read: “When it’s been five minutes and you haven’t asked for a billion dollars in aid.”
The post came as developments in Washington meant the future of US aid for Ukraine hangs in the balance amid the political wrangling to avoid a government shutdown.
Barely a week after President Volodymyr Zelensky was in Washington appealing for more funds, the compromise struck in Congress late Sunday dropped new funding for Ukraine amid opposition from hardline Republicans, AFP reports.
Musk’s tweet mocking the plight of Ukraine in the face of Russia’s full-scale invasion sparked outrage on social media.
The campaign group Republicans Against Trump, said: “Why do you mock a brave leader who leads his nation in its heroic fight for their freedom? Have you no shame?”
Journalist Julia Davis replied to the post, adding: “Because Zelensky dares to stand up to Putin and Elon never could.”
Former CIA officer John Sipher simply replied: “Get help.”
US journalist ‘Jay in Kyiv,’ added: “When you’ve licked Putin’s boots day and all night and still you want more.”
Other were a bit more creative in their responses:
Musk’s latest post is just one of a number of recent statements which have given an insight into the businessman’s lack of understanding of the situation Ukraine faces.
Over the weekend he appeared to conflate the situation on Ukraine’s international border with that of the US.
In a post on X, he asked: “Why do so many American politicians from both parties care 100 times more about the Ukraine border than the USA border?”
At the US border, thousands of largely peaceful migrants are crossing in the hopes of claiming asylum in the US.
At the Ukrainian border, tens of thousands of Russian troops have crossed hoping to illegally annex an entire country in what one Moscow general has described as a ‘stepping stone’ to invade Europe.
There was no shortage of people in the replies to his tweet willing to point out what Musk appeared to be missing.
“Ukraine is preventing a much wider war by stopping russia [sic] from invading NATO territory. Ukraine fights for us all,” wrote Paul Massaro.
“Why does the world’s richest businessman sound like a MAGA bot, spewing out automated right-wing talking points?” wrote journalist Mehdi Hasan.
The two posts above are just the latest in Musk’s apparent campaign against Ukraine – last month he wrote “So much death for so little,” in a post about Ukraine's counteroffensive, apparently in agreement with another post by David Sacks, a venture capitalist and friend of Musk who has criticized US support for Ukraine.
Elsewhere, a senate probe has been launched calling for a review of any incidents where Space X or others have disabled Ukrainian services following the revelation that Musk had not extended the private Starlink satellite network to aid Kyiv’s attack on Russian warships in Ukrainian waters near the Crimean coast.
Musk said he made the decision fearing that Moscow would retaliate with nuclear weapons. “If I had agreed to their request, then SpaceX would be explicitly complicit in a major act of war and conflict escalation,” Musk said.
The move triggered an immediate backlash in Ukraine.
“Sometimes a mistake is more than just a mistake,” Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior aide to President Zelensky wrote.
“By not allowing Ukrainian drones to destroy part of the Russian military (!) fleet via Starlink interference, Elon Musk allowed this fleet to fire Kalibr missiles at Ukrainian cities.
“As a result, civilians, children are being killed. This is the price of a cocktail of ignorance and big ego.”