When it comes to billionaire entrepreneurs, it's not just their groundbreaking ideas or throwing money down the drain in the form of absurd ventures that make headlines. Sometimes, it’s their moms who steal the spotlight.
Well, it is in the case of Elon Musk this week, anyway.
It’s common knowledge that Elon is no stranger to controversy. From calling President Biden a “damp sock puppet” to his various social media escapades, Musk has been a regular feature in the news cycle. But this time around, it's his mother who’s making waves online.
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Maye Musk, Elon's 75-year-old mother, recently took to X (formally known as Twitter, in case you didn’t already know that) to defend her son and the way she went about it has got people talking.
Maye, a model and dietitian, isn’t one to sit back when her son’s under fire, it seems. In the tweet, she fiercely rose to the occasion.
She posted: “I am the mother of @elonmusk. His goal is to make this world a better place. @POTUS [Joe Biden] wants to stop him. Have you any idea how furious I am? People in other countries are proud of Elon and do not understand the US President’s motive. Please tell me how I should answer them.”
So what's got Maye all fired up? It all boils down to a decision by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that didn’t go in favor of SpaceX, one of Elon’s ventures. The FCC, led by Democrat-appointed chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, decided to withhold nearly $900 million in subsidies from Starlink, SpaceX's satellite internet unit. These funds were initially earmarked to provide high-speed internet service to rural homes and businesses across 35 states.
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The reason? The FCC claimed Starlink “failed to demonstrate that it could deliver the promised service”. That’s a bold statement, and it didn’t sit well with Team Musk. Hence why Maye felt compelled to take to X.
It’s worth noting that Maye's outcry isn’t just about subsidies - it’s about what she sees as an unfair targeting of her son by the Biden administration. And she's not alone in her thinking. FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, one of two Republicans on the commission, also expressed dissent, accusing the agency of engaging in “regulatory harassment” of the SpaceX CEO.
This is not the first time Maye has come to her son's defense, either. She previously called out the New York Times for what she described as a “hit piece” on Elon. The article, published in May 2022, suggested Musk was “detached from apartheid’s atrocities” during his upbringing in South Africa, a claim she vehemently denied.
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Elon Musk, being Elon Musk, echoed his mother’s sentiments on X, claiming the White House was “changing the rules to prevent SpaceX from competing”, It's clear that in the Musk family, when the going gets tough, the tough get tweeting.