‘F*** you’: Brazil’s First Lady insults Elon Musk at G20 Social event

Brazil’s First Lady has sworn at Elon Musk at a G20 Social event in Rio de Janeiro. The billionaire responded to the insult on X.

Brazil’s First Lady has sworn at Elon Musk while speaking about social media regulation and misinformation at an event in Rio de Janeiro.

The G20 Social Summit takes place between November 14 and 16 ahead of the G20 Leaders’ Summit.

A loud noise interrupted Janja Lula da Silva, wife of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, while speaking to an audience on the weekend. (Watch in the video player above).

“I think it’s Elon Musk,” she joked, laughing and bending down. Standing up and pointing to the sky, she said, “I’m not afraid of you,” before adding, “F*** you, Elon Musk”.

Mr Musk is the owner of social media platform X, formerly Twitter, and has just been picked by US President-elect Donald Trump to lead the new cost cutting Department of Government Efficiency.

The two billionaires have become increasingly close. Mr Musk, also Tesla and Space X CEO, was a frequent figure on the Trump campaign trail and on election night he was even in the family snap with the Trumps at Mar-a-Lago.

First Lady of Brazil Janja Lula da Silva speaking during the inauguration of the 'G20 Social' on November 14 in Rio de Janeiro. Picture: Thiago Ribeiro/Getty Images

Some Brazilians have criticised their First Lady for insulting Mr Musk so publicly given his relationship with the US President-elect.

Mr Musk responded to a video of Janja’s remarks with two laughing emojis and the words, “They will lose the next election”. He reposted another clip of the video, simply writing “lol”.

X was banned in Brazil in August amid an ongoing dispute over misinformation about the country’s 2022 Presidential election, and X’s failure to identify a legal representative in Brazil.

The ban was lifted in October after X paid millions of dollars in fines and complied with court orders.

At the time, the company’s global government affairs team said it was proud to return to Brazil.

“Giving tens of millions of Brazilians access to our indispensable platform was paramount throughout this entire process,” a post read. “We will continue to defend freedom of speech, within the boundaries of the law, everywhere we operate.”

Elon Musk has got himself a new job under Donald Trump’s presidency, leading the new Department of Government Efficiency. Picture: Jim Watson / AFP

G20 wrestles with wars, ‘turbulence’ in run-up to Trump

Chinese President Xi Jinping warned on Monday the world faces “turbulence,” as G20 leaders met in Brazil two months before Donald Trump returns to the White House.

US President Joe Biden was attending his last summit of the world’s leading economies, but as a lame duck eclipsed by Xi who has cast himself as a protector of the international order in the Trump 2.0 era.

World leaders are meeting for two days to try to jump-start stalled UN climate talks and overcome their differences on wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, and extracting more tax from the super-rich.

In an apparent nod to the return of China hawk Trump, Xi told British Prime Minister Keir Starmer: “The world is currently entering a new period of turbulence and change.”

Xi’s remarks were echoed by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who also declared “the world is changing” and pushed for the European Union to quickly finalise a blockbuster trade deal with South American countries.

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva looks on during the second session of the G20 Leaders' Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on November 18, 2024. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP)

Striking inside Russia

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was using his hosting duties to promote left-wing issues close to his heart, including fighting hunger and climate change.

At the opening of the summit he launched the centrepiece of his G20 presidency: a Global Alliance against Poverty and Hunger, backed by 81 countries, which aims to feed half a million people by 2030.

Before the summit, the 79-year-old host, who is attempting to chart a non-aligned course in international affairs, said he would try to steer discussions away from the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.

“Because if not, we will not discuss other things which are more important for people that are not at war,” he said.

But Mr Biden’s decision to allow Ukraine, which Moscow invaded in 2022, to use long-range US missiles to strike inside Russia threatens to escalate a war Mr Trump has vowed to quickly end.

Russia on Monday warned of an “appropriate response” if Russian territory was hit by powerful Western-supplied weapons.

Mr Biden used his final G20 appearance to defend Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

But Mr Scholz said he would not be following Washington’s lead on long-range armaments.

“The powerful weapons we have supplied so far … the long-range artillery, the rocket launchers, cannot be used to penetrate deep into the Russian hinterland,” he stressed.

In a sign of divergences, a Brazilian foreign ministry source told AFP that some countries wanted to renegotiate a draft summit communique that had already been agreed.

“For Brazil and other countries the text is already finalized, but some countries want to open up some points on wars and climate,” the source told AFP.

Originally published as ‘F*** you’: Brazil’s First Lady insults Elon Musk at G20 Social event