Elon Musk Doubles Down on Criticism of President: 'Biden Has Pointedly Ignored Tesla at Every Turn' The Tesla CEO has spoken out numerous over the last several months about feeling slighted by the Commander-in-Chief.
By Emily Rella •
Elon Musk continues to have it out with President Biden over what he perceives as an intentional lack of attention to Tesla's innovations. Last month, Musk was riled when Biden omitted Tesla when mentioning brands that represent the future of electric vehicles in America.
"I meant it when I said the future was going to be made right here in America," Biden's original Tweet said. "Companies like GM and Ford are building more electric vehicles here at home than ever before."
Musk's questionably mature response was to write back, "Starts with a T, Ends with an A, ESL in the middle," before calling the president a "damp [sock] puppet in human form."
But continuing reports that the White House remains wary of welcoming Musk at the White House have seemingly revived his frustrations, though in exclusive comments to CNBC, Musk acknowledges that the "notion of a feud is not quite right."
Related: Elon Musk Rips Into Joe Biden, Canadian Government: 'This Is the Path to Tyranny'
"Biden has pointedly ignored Tesla at every turn and falsely stated to the public that GM leads the electric-car industry, when in fact Tesla produced over 300,000 electric vehicles last quarter and GM produced 26," Musk told CNBC. (Though GM was notably effected by chip shortages that lead to major delays in the production of EVs.)
Earlier this month, however, Biden finally acknowledged Tesla publicly. "Since 2021, companies have announced investments totaling more than $200 billion in domestic manufacturing here in America — from iconic companies like GM and Ford building out new electric vehicle production to Tesla, our nation's largest electric vehicle manufacturer, to innovative younger companies like Rivian building electric trucks or Proterra building electric buses," Biden said during a speech about the growth and future of domestic EV production.
Musk wasn't too keen on the President's long-awaited recognition. "It got to the point, hilariously, where no one in the administration was even allowed to say the word "Tesla'!" Musk added in his emailed remakrs to CNBC. "Public outrage and media pressure forced him to admit that Tesla does in fact lead the EV industry. I wouldn't exactly call that "praise.'"
The billionaire assures that there is no bad blood between him and the president, and that if he were ever to be invited to the White House, he would "do the right thing" as far as not stirring trouble. "I have nothing against Biden otherwise," Musk commented, "apart from general concern about more deficit spending, which would apply to any president."
Tesla was back up a solid 12.87% year over year as of early Wednesday afternoon.
