Elon Musk has highlighted U.S. President Joe Biden’s affiliation with the top automotive union, following a recent report highlighting the administration’s attempts to ignore Tesla’s meeting requests several times in the past few years.
Following a Wall Street Journal report on Sunday detailing the timeline of Musk and Biden’s feud, the Tesla CEO responded on X saying that “Biden is utterly controlled” by the United Automotive Workers (UAW) union, and adding that “he would rather Tesla be dead than not unionized.”
Biden is utterly controlled by the UAW. He would rather Tesla be dead than not unionized.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 28, 2024
Soon thereafter, Musk also responded with the 100 emoji to another user saying that a Kamala Harris presidency would continue the same policies as Biden:
💯
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 28, 2024
The now-years-long feud was initially sparked when Biden held a meeting for electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers in August 2021, but failed to invite Tesla to the meeting. Tesla had been selling around two-thirds of all EVs in the U.S. at the time, while Ford, General Motors (GM), and Dodge-Chrysler had been regularly praised by the administration.
“In the auto industry, Detroit’s leading the world in electric vehicles,” Biden said during an event in November, amidst the launch of the his massive infrastructure bill.
He went on to tell GM CEO Mary Barra, “You electrified the entire automobile industry. I’m serious. You led, and it matters.”
The administration has seemingly snubbed Tesla for its lack of being unionized, with some UAW members even pointing out that this was understood as an unspoken agreement.
“We made it clear to the administration about where things were,” said one former union official in the WSJ report. “We didn’t have to make an ultimatum. They understood.”
More recently, Musk has been appealing to audiences on the right on X, with attacks against the “woke mind virus,” and other common Republican talking points such as concerns about illegal immigrants, vaccines, voter fraud, and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
Then, earlier this month, Musk officially went on to endorse Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election, adding that the “last time America had a candidate this tough was Theodore Roosevelt.”
Despite this, Trump and his running mate JD Vance have generally expressed negative sentiments surrounding electric vehicles (EVs), except for when Trump said last month that he was “a fan of EVs and Musk.”
Since then, Biden has officially withdrawn from the 2024 election, with current VP Harris now set to run as the Democratic nominee.
President Joe Biden comes after Elon Musk following Trump endorsement
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