President Joe Biden on Tuesday publicly mentioned Tesla for the first time in his presidency, after multiple complaints from the company’s CEO Elon Musk, who carped on Twitter and in interviews that Biden seemed to be deliberately ignoring his firm’s trailblazing role in the electric vehicle market.
Biden touted Tritium’s announcement as “great news” for workers, the economy, and “frankly, the planet,” while describing the planned plant as part of his “Made in America” thrust. Then, for the first time since taking office, he mentioned Tesla by name.
“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.
Musk acknowledged Biden’s shoutout, replying to a tweet noting the president’s comment with a smiling sunglasses emoji.
The Tesla chief previously complained that Biden hadn’t mentioned the company by name.
Another critical Musk tweet came in response to a statement posted on the official presidential Twitter account that singled out GM and Ford for ramping up domestic electric vehicle production.
White House aides have said that pro-union Biden avoided mentioning Tesla because he felt the company is opposed to unions.
Musk has made critical remarks about union activity, including a 2018 tweet that landed him in hot water with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
That tweet sparked an investigation by the NLRB into union-busting at Tesla after the United Auto Workers (UAW) complained, with the agency ultimately finding Musk’s message violated labor law and ordering him to delete it.
Musk also criticized Biden in August when he was not invited to a White House event.
“(They) didn’t mention Tesla once and praised GM and Ford for leading the EV revolution. Does that sound maybe a little biased?” Musk said during a panel discussion. “Not the friendliest administration, seems to be controlled by unions.”
When asked about Biden’s Tesla namedropping, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said, “We all know that Tesla is a major producer of electric vehicles,” adding the White House sees “huge opportunity” for the United States from the industry overall.