Kyiv: Elon Musk challenged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday to hold elections.
According to Anadolu Agency, Musk expressed skepticism over Zelenskyy’s recently reported approval rate, which a report from the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology suggested was at 57%. Musk took to X to question the credibility of the poll, asserting that a survey controlled by Zelenskyy about his own approval could not be trusted.
The owner of X further argued that if Zelenskyy were truly popular among Ukrainians, he would proceed with holding an election. Musk claimed that the Ukrainian president is actually “despised” by his people, which he believes is the reason for the absence of elections.
In a related comment, a prominent aide of US President Donald Trump stated that Zelenskyy would suffer a “landslide” defeat in an election, despite allegedly controlling all Ukrainian media. Musk echoed this sentiment by challenging Zelenskyy to hold an election to disprove these claims.
Musk also voiced support for the US president’s stance on Zelenskyy, endorsing Trump’s approach of seeking peace independently of what Musk described as a “disgusting, massive graft machine” that benefits from the conflict in Ukraine. Trump had previously suggested that Zelenskyy’s approval ratings might be as low as 4%.