Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, suggested he may have the world’s thinnest skin based on his response to mild criticism from Chef José Andrés.
The Tesla mogul has been dealing with fallout over a recent interview with Economist Editor-in-Chief Zanny Minton Beddoes, where he got testy after she pointed out his seeming affinity for members of the “far right.”
“No, I support the normal people. What you call the far right, falsely,” he said testily at one point.
The interview was released on Thursday, and Musk was apparently still bugged enough that he called Beddoes “a traitor to the West” in response to a post from Rael Braverman, a member of right-wing political party Reform UK and the husband of former U.K. Home Secretary Suella Braverman.
Andrés, who previously served as the co-chair of the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition during the Biden administration, responded to Musk’s post with some good advice and mild criticism of his attack on Beddoes.
The chef, whose World Central Kitchen helps feed people on the front lines of global crises, suggested the SpaceX head honcho “drink a glass of water before you tweet,” and pointedly said Musk shouldn’t call “a great journalist” who actually asked him good questions “[an] enemy to humanity.”
Andres added: “You sound and act like a tyrant….change!”
Musk’s response was definitely “statesmanlike,” but only if the statesman is Donald Trump.
If Musk thought his pithy insult ended any possibility of online criticism, he was sadly mistaken, as many people immediately took Andrés’ side.
Musk did get some mock “sympathy” for the post, with one person pointing out that Facebook big cheese Mark Zuckerberg “could never match this level of social media gold!”