Elon Musk’s mother has sparked outrage over an ugly comment she made criticizing a reporter’s ethnicity as the race for the White House heats up.
Maye Musk, 76, has criticized New York Times technology reporter Ryan Mac, claiming he planned to publish a “hit piece” about her son on Wednesday, in the wake of the presidential election.
Musk has been open about his support for Donald Trump, with the pair developing a “bromance” during the final months of campaigning and appearing together at rallies across the country.
“I heard there’s going to be an Elon hit from @RMac18 in the [New York Times] tomorrow. Unfortunately, Ryan is an American-Vietnamese reporter,” Maye wrote Tuesday night.
Elon Musk’s mother (pictured together) has sparked anger over an ugly comment she made criticizing a reporter’s ethnicity as the race for the White House intensifies
Maye defended her comments after being publicly criticized, reposting Kingkade’s critical comments to her own feed Tuesday night to criticize the New York Times for “lying about [Elon] for 15 years
The comment was shared on X, but seemed to be quickly deleted. Another journalist who saw the message republished it and denounced Maye.
“For the record: Ryan Mac was born and raised in California. Not that it matters,” wrote NBC reporter Tyler Kingkade.
“Berating a reporter because of his ethnicity is never appropriate… He also won a Polk Award. No one should ever bet on their stories being inaccurate.”
Maye, a published author and former Democratic voter, said she has fans in Vietnam who she believes will not believe the article if it is hateful and/or unfair.
Mac himself hit back with a pointed post of his own, writing, “Anyone doing American-Vietnamese stuff tonight?” He also added the phrase “American Vietnamese” to his X-bio.
The award-winning journalist has been covering Musk’s exploits since he bought Twitter and rebranded it as X in 2022, and that coverage has increased since the billionaire endorsed Donald Trump this election cycle.
Mac (pictured) is an award-winning journalist who has covered Musk’s exploits since he bought Twitter and rebranded it as X in 2022, and that reporting has increased since the billionaire’s support of Donald Trump this election cycle.
Mac himself hit back with a pointed post of his own, writing, “Anyone doing American-Vietnamese stuff tonight?” He also added the phrase “American Vietnamese” to his X-bio
Musk revealed he supported Trump after the assassination attempt in July, and has since become one of the Republican candidate’s most vocal supporters and generous donors.
During this election alone, he has spent a whopping $119 million on his pro-Trump political action committee, America PAC.
Maye defended her comments after being publicly criticized, reposting Kingkade’s critical comments to her own feed Tuesday night to criticize the New York Times for “lying about [Elon] for 15 years.
“Ha!” she wrote. “I mentioned this at X Spaces with Elon and everyone. They laughed so much.
‘Nothing new. It must be hard to be hateful and dishonest all the time. I hope Ryan gets paid well.”
Musk revealed he will be with Trump on Tuesday evening when the results come in.
He announced his support for the former president earlier this year after the July 13 assassination attempt in Pennsylvania, despite saying in 2022 that “it’s time for Trump to hang up his hat and sail into the sunset.”
Elon Musk will join Donald Trump at his election night party at Mar-a-Lago and continue his aggressive campaign for the Republican nominee
During a Spaces livestream, the world’s richest man said, “I’ll be there with President Trump and JD and a bunch of other cool people.” They have a great sense of humor.’
Musk pledged last month to give away $1 million a day to people in swing states until Election Day.
According to the America PAC website, 16 people, including four in Pennsylvania, received the $1 million prizes. The winners were reportedly chosen at random from those who signed a petition pledging support for free speech and gun rights.
The offer was limited to registered voters in one of the seven states likely to determine the outcome of the Nov. 5 election: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
The Justice Department warned Musk and his America PAC last month that the sweepstakes may violate federal law, which prohibits people from paying to register to vote.
Trump leads Harris in the polls as of late Tuesday evening.