Elon Musk‘s mother Maye Musk said Elon always wanted to do good for others even when he was a child, but his approach often put him at odds with others. Maye opened up about her personal journey in an interview with CBS Mornings co-host Gayle King on her new memoir “Timeless”. Maye said Elon Musk was a genius child and he “”just wants to do good in the world, but that means you stand on a lot of toes.” She said she believes he’s been treated unfairly by members of the public.“People are mean. And they’re strangers, or they’re not accomplished themselves, and then they can do insults,” she said. “It makes me angry.”She said she wants people to know, “He does whatever is best for America and what’s best for the world,” adding, “And then, if we don’t listen, then let’s go to Mars.”Her comments come after a turbulent period for Elon Musk, whose brief stint in the US government as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, drew considerable criticism. DOGE overhauled federal agencies and cut funding for several programmes during the early months of President Donald Trump’s second term.Musk later had a public falling-out with Trump after leaving the administration, including criticism of Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill”. The relationship has since appeared to improve. Musk has also backed Republican candidates in the 2026 midterm elections. Meanwhile, his business empire has continued to expand. SpaceX went public, making Musk the world’s first trillionaire.When Gayle King asked Maye Musk whether she agreed that Elon was on the spectrum as a child, Maye said: “Well, when I read ‘the spectrum,’ maybe on one of the points that he’s a little awkward, yeah.”In her memoir, Maye recounted her struggle in an abusive marriage and how she moved from South Africa to Canada with her three children, where she started her own practice as a dietitian. “I didn’t know it was possible,” she said. “Until you just have enough, and you run away.”Maye said her children did not complain when she was juggling parenting and her studies for her first master’s degree and when they all had to sleep on couches and floors. “I said to them, ‘Why did you put up with that?’ And they said, ‘Well, if we complained, would you listen?’ And I said ‘No,'” Musk recalled.