Elon Musk's Most Controversial Twitter Moments, From Irking Ukrainian President To Getting Beijing's Praises

Billionaire Elon Musk has been making headlines recently for his controversial statements.

While focusing on his usual business endeavors, Musk has been increasingly opining on global affairs and world politics along with providing general wisdom on all ongoing issues on social media.

His opinions often result in scores of outlandish statements, laconic judgments, and quirky ideas - which Twitter users have been quick to document.

Most recently, Musk gained public attention for suggesting solutions to bring an end to the Russia-Ukraine war and advising Taiwan to give in to China's claims on its territory. These statements have been met with criticism from many quarters, particularly amid his plans to buy Twitter.

Here's a look at some of the most controversial tweets posted by Elon Musk on the platform:

A Twitter spat with Ukraine's President

On Oct. 3, Musk posted a Twitter poll asking people to extend support to one of the three solutions to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

In the tweet, Musk proposed three solutions: Fresh elections in the four regions annexed by Russia in eastern Ukraine "under UN supervision"; Crimea to be formally recognized as part of Russia; and Ukraine to remain neutral in the future, instead of joining NATO.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy couldn't resist responding to Elon Musk's Twitter poll with one of his own.

"Which Elon Musk do you like more?" Zelenskyy asked, giving two options: "One who supports Ukraine" or "One who supports Russia."

Andrij Melnyk, Ukraine's ambassador to Germany, also gave a blunt response to Musk's poll.

Elon Musk's Pronoun Tweets

In December 2020, Musk posted a picture with a meme on gender pronouns. The pronouns "she/her," "he/him," and "they/them" are often used on social media profiles by transgender and non-binary people to normalize the practice of using gender pronouns.

Musk's tweet stirred up controversy among social media users, with many of them interpreting it as an insult toward marginalized groups.

Nuke Mars

On Aug. 16, 2019, Musk called for a nuclear strike on Mars in a tweet that read, "Nuke Mars!"

However, in another tweet, Musk pointed out that t-shirts with the slogan would be coming soon.

A few days later, Musk explained that hitting Mars with "a continuous stream of very low fallout nuclear fusion explosions above the atmosphere" would create artificial suns without making the planet radioactive.

Elon Musk's opinion on Taiwan and China

The Tesla CEO advised Taipei and Beijing to come to a reasonable agreement into making Taiwan a special administrative zone of China, in an interview with the Financial Times.

While Qin Gang, Chinese ambassador to the United States, praised Musk for his remarks, Hsiao Bi-khim, Taiwan's de facto ambassador to Washington, stated that Taipei's freedom and democracy are "not for sale."

Given that Tesla just hit a monthly record for sales in China, Elon Musk's comments are particularly timed and significant.

Musk's thoughts about Covid-19

Musk's comments on the Covid-19 lockdown in the US in April 2020 caused quite a stir on social media. In another controversial tweet on March 6, 2020, Musk referred to the Coronavirus panic as "dumb."