Elon Musk has highlighted US President Joe Biden’s alliance with the auto industry’s top union, following recent reports revealing the administration has repeatedly tried to ignore Tesla’s requests for a meeting over the past few years.
After The Wall Street Journal detailed the history of Musk’s feud with Biden on Sunday, the Tesla CEO said on Twitter that “Biden is totally controlled by the United Auto Workers,” adding that he would “rather die than have Tesla not unionized.”
Shortly after, Musk responded to another user with 100 emojis, saying that a Kamala Harris presidency would continue the same policies as Biden.
The years-long feud began when Biden didn’t invite Tesla to a meeting of electric vehicle (EV) makers in August 2021. At the time, Tesla accounted for roughly two-thirds of U.S. EV sales, while Ford, General Motors and Dodge Chrysler were regularly praised by the administration.
“In the auto industry, Detroit leads the world in electric vehicles,” Biden said at a November event announcing his massive infrastructure bill.
He continued, telling GM CEO Mary Barra, “You’ve electrified the entire auto industry. I’m serious. You’re leading the way, and that’s important.”
While the administration has appeared to take a cold shoulder about Tesla’s failure to unionize, some UAW members have noted that this was understood as an implicit agreement.
“We made the situation very clear to management,” one former union official said in the Journal report. “There was no need to give ultimatums. Management understood.”
More recently, Musk has appealed to a right-leaning audience with his X-rating, attacking the “woke mind virus” and raising common Republican talking points such as illegal immigration, vaccines, voter fraud and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts.
And earlier this month, Musk formally endorsed Donald Trump for the 2024 presidential election, adding that “the last time America had a more formidable candidate was Theodore Roosevelt.”
Nevertheless, President Trump and his running mate, J.D. Vance, have generally expressed negative sentiments about electric vehicles (EVs), except for last month, when President Trump said he was a “fan of EVs and a fan of Musk.”
Biden has since formally withdrawn from the 2024 race, with current Vice President Harris set to run as the Democratic nominee.
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