Maye Musk’s comments sparked mockery on social media, with many making the comparisons to a nerdy cartoon character sheepishly saying his mom thinks he’s cool

The mother of Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, stopped by Fox Business on Monday to scold those who call her son “wealthy,” claiming it was “degrading” and that she would prefer he be referred to as the “genius of the world.”

With her son now president-elect Donald Trump’s “First Buddy” and in charge of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Maye Musk sat down with Fox Business anchor Stuart Varney to gush over her 53-year-old 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥’s accomplishments.

Besides talking about the younger Musk’s companies SpaceX, Tesla and X (formerly Twitter), she also dished on how well her son and Trump get along, especially since the election

“I’ve seen them together, but very shortly. I live in New York, and they’re in Mar-a-Lago or at a SpaceX launch, and they just seem to be having fun. A lot of fun,” she declared, adding: “And it’s nice for both of them to have fun, and [Elon] really respects him a lot and is really happy that there’s a future for America now.”

She also claimed that it would be “very easy” for her son and DOGE co-chair Vivek Ramaswamy to slash the federal workforce and cut spending, citing Elon Musk’s severe and immediate layoffs when he purchased Twitter in 2022.

Seemingly parroting her son’s talking points, she absolutely trashed the press. “What they call mainstream media, but I call them dishonest Democrat media, they will be trying to break up the relationship. They will be hating everything,” she said. “And I told that to Elon, he said he expects that because they were dishonest before the election.”

Maye Musk praises her son Elon during an appearance on Fox Business (Fox Business)

In the end, though, Maye wanted to make sure everyone knew her son was the best at, well, everything. And that referencing his massive wealth was a pejorative.

“I don’t like the word ‘wealthy’ or ‘billionaire’ or things like that because I think it’s degrading,” she exclaimed to Varney. “I think he’s the genius of the world, and people are loving him for that! … They love him because of what he does, and they respect him. And I’m very proud of him.”

Once the clip of Maye’s comments was shared on social media, it didn’t take long for the mockery to start flowing.

For instance, multiple people reacted by sharing the meme of The Simpson’s nebbish character Milhouse van Houten sheepishly saying: “But my mom thinks I’m cool!” At least one person superimposed an image of Elon on top of Milhouse in the cartoon.

“Bet your mom doesn’t go on Fox News to tell everybody what a good and impressive boy you are. (It is because you and your mom have dignity),” Wonkette managing editor Evan Hurst quipped on Bluesky.

One social media account snarked that the “mother of one of the most powerful men in the world going on the ‘News’ to complain about people hating on her kid is North Korean-level dictatorial bulls***,” while another Bluesky user added: “If my mommy had to go on the news to call me the ‘genius of the world’ and to tell people to stop being mean to me, [I] think [I]would die of shame and embarrassment.”

Maye Musk, the accomplished model and mother of billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, recently made headlines for her surprising statement: referring to her son simply as “wealthy” is, in her words, “degrading.” During a candid interview, she expressed concern that focusing on Elon’s financial status oversimplifies his legacy and undermines the true nature of his accomplishments. Instead, she believes he should be recognized for what he truly represents to many around the globe: a visionary mind and, as she described, “the world’s genius.”

Elon Musk has long been at the center of both praise and controversy. Often described as the richest man on Earth, he is frequently defined by his financial standing. Yet Maye argues that reducing his identity to a dollar sign misses the extraordinary journey and intellect that have shaped his path. “He didn’t inherit billions. He built everything from scratch,” she emphasized, pointing to Elon’s decades of relentless work, innovation, and resilience in industries few dared to challenge.

The debate over how we label public figures, especially those of great wealth, is not new. For Maye Musk, the issue runs deeper than just media language. She sees it as a societal problem—where value is often tied to money rather than intellect, contribution, or vision. “When you call someone wealthy, it sounds like they just accumulated money. Elon earned every cent by solving problems no one else dared to tackle,” she said.

Maye Musk’s comments have sparked wide discussion online, especially among those who admire Elon not just for his financial achievements, but for his ambitious goals—colonizing Mars, revolutionizing electric transportation, transforming global internet access, and developing human-machine brain interfaces. These projects, once dismissed as science fiction, are now active fields of research and development, thanks in large part to Musk’s leadership and engineering mindset.

From founding Zip2 and PayPal in his early entrepreneurial days to leading companies like Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink, and The Boring Company, Elon Musk has defied expectations at nearly every turn. His ventures haven’t just disrupted industries—they’ve created entirely new ones. His work in rocket technology, for instance, has slashed the cost of space travel and laid the foundation for reusable spacecraft, while Tesla has accelerated the global shift toward electric vehicles.

This track record of groundbreaking innovation is what Maye Musk believes should define her son’s public image. “He’s not sitting on a beach somewhere watching his bank balance grow. He’s working 16-hour days trying to get humans to Mars and make the Earth sustainable,” she noted. Her assertion reflects the sentiment of many who see Musk as more than just a billionaire—they see a trailblazer who is willing to risk everything in the pursuit of progress.

The label “genius” is not new when associated with Elon Musk. He’s often compared to historic figures like Thomas Edison, Nikola Tesla, and even Leonardo da Vinci. His ability to conceptualize complex systems and turn them into reality across disciplines is rare, and it’s a key reason why his companies command intense loyalty—and scrutiny. According to Maye, this intellectual prowess is what the world should be highlighting. “Call him an engineer, a scientist, an inventor. But don’t reduce him to a bank account,” she stated.

There’s also a personal dimension to Maye Musk’s defense. As someone who raised her children as a single mother while building her own career as a model and dietitian, she witnessed firsthand the sacrifices and hardships Elon endured on his journey. From sleeping in the office to maxing out credit cards to fund startups, Elon’s rise was anything but smooth. “People only see where he is now. They don’t know the sleepless nights, the near-bankruptcies, the failures that came before the success,” she shared.

Maye herself is no stranger to reinvention and public life. A successful model well into her 70s, she has become a symbol of age-defying ambition and female empowerment. She has spoken openly about the importance of hard work, resilience, and raising children to be curious and independent thinkers. Her own success story adds weight to her words and offers deeper insight into the values that shaped Elon’s development.

Critics of Elon Musk may argue that fame and fortune come with scrutiny and that the term “wealthy” is simply factual. But Maye’s perspective urges a broader cultural reflection. Is someone’s financial status really the most important thing about them? Or are we overlooking the larger impact of their ideas and actions? It’s a question that has become increasingly relevant in an age where social media often reduces public figures to memes or headlines.

Supporters of Maye’s view say that recognizing someone as a genius has the potential to inspire future generations in ways that monetary labels never could. When young people hear the story of a South African immigrant who became a pioneer in space exploration and renewable energy, they may be more motivated to study science and dream big. “When we talk about what he’s doing for the world, that’s when we really see the value,” Maye said.

It’s also worth noting that Elon Musk himself rarely emphasizes his wealth. In interviews and tweets, he often downplays materialism, stating that he owns relatively few possessions and lives modestly. At one point, he even sold off most of his real estate, claiming he wanted to focus entirely on his mission and work. These actions align more closely with the identity his mother describes—a driven innovator rather than a traditional mogul.

Maye Musk’s comments also raise an important point about media framing. How the press portrays individuals can influence public perception in powerful ways. By choosing to emphasize wealth over intellect or vision, headlines can distort the essence of someone’s contribution to society. In Musk’s case, being the world’s richest man often overshadows the technological milestones that helped him get there.

As the world continues to watch Elon Musk build rockets, develop humanoid robots, and plan missions to other planets, his legacy is still being written. But for Maye Musk, the hope is that people will see beyond the billions. “Elon’s mind is his greatest asset,” she insists. “If that’s not genius, I don’t know what is.”

Her statement is not just a mother’s praise—it’s a challenge to the public to rethink how we assign value. Wealth, after all, is fleeting. But ideas that change the world endure.