SpaceX founder Elon Musk is facing fresh criticism online, after he called on Volodymyr Zelensky to resign just days after US president Donald Trump said “it’s time for Ukraine to get a new president”.

It comes after the Ukrainian president gave an interview to Piers Morgan for his Uncensored programme on Wednesday, in which he discussed pushing his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin towards negotiations, ruled out resigning, and criticised Musk over restrictions on Starlink access in Ukraine.

In a X/Twitter post the same day, the tech billionaire quote tweeted another account which said Zelensky “has no intention of ending the war until Russia is defeated” and added: “And so the slaughter continues … Time for Zelensky to go.”

Musk’s intervention has since been condemned by other social media users, with conservative attorney Gregg Nunziata branding it “absolutely depraved”:

“She has presented herself as a lawyer but does not meet the requirements in her home state to use that title. And at least one watchdog group has asked the State Bar of California to investigate.

It’s a development made even more awkward after Republicans mercilessly attacked the Democratic candidate for US Senate in Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed, for not being a doctor, though he went to medical school and made his career in public health.

Zacharia has a law degree from the Pepperdine Caruso School of Law, but there’s no evidence she ever passed a bar exam. She does claim to have obtained a credential in China, but it’s not at all clear what credential she’s talking about.”