Multi-billionaire Elon Musk was enraged that the US President seemed to ignore him.
(Photo: AP, imago images/Xinhua)
Dusseldorf At a briefing in the White House, US President Joe Biden called the company “Tesla” for the first time. Not only that: he also mentioned the Amazon-backed company Rivian and the electric bus manufacturer Proterra.
In his speech, Biden praised domestic automobile production. Since 2021, companies have announced investments of more than $200 billion in US manufacturing – “from iconic companies like GM and Ford building new electric vehicle production, to Tesla, our country’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer, to innovative younger companies like Rivian , which build electric trucks, or Proterra, which makes electric buses,” Biden said at the presentation of a Tritium charging station for the White House.
Biden, who describes himself as a car nut, has called electric vehicles crucial to his economic and climate ambitions.
But so far he has seemed to avoid mentioning Tesla or his boss Elon Musk in any way. Multibillionaire Musk was enraged that the US President seemed to ignore him: he recently accused Biden of deliberately bypassing Tesla. On Jan. 30, Musk tweeted that for unknown reasons, Biden was “unable to pronounce the word ‘Tesla’.”
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What also bothered Musk: Biden tweeted that the US automakers General Motors (GM) and Ford were building more electric cars than ever before. The US President also posted a video showing him with GM boss Mary Barra.
Musk commented on the video on Twitter with the words: “Starts with a T, ends with an A. ESL in the middle”. Biden, on the other hand, never met Musk, even though GM sells far fewer electric cars than Tesla. He was also not allowed to be there last fall when the White House invited car managers and journalists to a PR event.
Petition for more recognition
Musk’s fans were upset. Some of them started an online petition to urge Biden to “recognize Tesla’s leadership in electric vehicles.” The initiators said Biden “only supports GM and other automakers.”
The initiative has now collected around 58,500 signatures. The Tesla boss now thanked the signatories.
Biden also previously failed to mention other electric vehicle startups, such as Rivian. This could be related to the fact that, in addition to Tesla, many of the electric car start-ups are not unionized.
US President Biden has so far failed to mention Tesla and start-ups in the field of electric vehicles. His praise, however, went to Ford and General Motors.
(Photo: AP)
When White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki was asked last year if Musk wasn’t invited because Tesla employees aren’t unionized, she replied, “I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.”
Unions in the US are among Biden’s staunch supporters. It should not be a coincidence that Biden only praised those US companies GM and Ford, of which tens of thousands of employees are organized in such.
Biden’s so-called Build Back Better plan, which is intended to ensure more climate protection and welfare state in the USA, includes a tax break for electric cars of 4,500 dollars – but only for those vehicles that are built by unionized workers.
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