In the 2020 elections, the Democrats won both houses of Congress and the presidency. At the time, the party most vocal about climate change taking power was thought to be favorable to Tesla as the EV maker is the leading producer of sustainable products.
However, the relationship between Tesla and the new administration has been anything but smooth. Initial cracks between Tesla and the Democrats started to emerge after Tesla was left out of an EV summit held at the White House.
At the time, the EV summit attendees included executives from General Motors, Ford, United Auto Workers, as well as Stellantis, the company formed by the merger of Fiat Chrysler and France's PSA. During the Summit President Biden congratulated GM CEO Marry Barra for leading the transition to electric vehicles.
To highlight the absurdity of this statement, in the first 3 months of 2022, GM only delivered 457 electric vehicles worldwide. In comparison, in the same time frame, Tesla has delivered over 300,000 EVs and accounted for more than 70% of EVs sold in the US.
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Following Tesla’s snub, relations between the EV maker and the Democrats went downhill even further, as Democrats in Congress introduced a new EV incentive bill.
According to the new bill, Tesla buyers would get an $8,000 federal EV incentive while Ford and GM will get an additional $4,000 for building their EVs in unionized factories.
However, the worst escalation between the democrats and Elon Musk/Tesla came after Musk announced his intention to buy Twitter and restore free speech on the social media platform.
Following Musk’s announcement, attacks by Democrats on the billionaire started to escalate. Last week Musk was accused of sexual misconduct, which the Tesla CEO has called a politically motivated attack by Democrats.
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Following Musk’s accusation, I have covered a story regarding a suspiciously large Tesla short bet that made a 1,400% profit in a single day.
And a few days ago in further escalation of the dispute, Elon Musk called Democratic Congress woman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a puppet after she announced she would like to replace her Model 3 with a union-built EV.
And now Musk says Donald Trump was better for Tesla & his other venture SpaceX than the current administration. Musk's statement came after a Twitter back and forth which began with a user accusing Musk of not caring about free speech or else he wouldn’t support Donald Trump.
In his first response Musk said “I support free speech, but not any one candidate. In fact, I gave money to & voted for Hillary & then voted for Biden. However, given unprovoked attacks by leading Democrats against me & a very cold shoulder to Tesla & SpaceX, I intend to vote Republican in November.”
I support free speech, but not any one candidate. In fact, I gave money to & voted for Hillary & then voted for Biden.However, given unprovoked attacks by leading Democrats against me & a very cold shoulder to Tesla & SpaceX, I intend to vote Republican in November.— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 30, 2022
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Musk then followed up his tweet by stating his Republican vote will only be for the upcoming mid-term elections as no third party has a chance of winning congress.
I’m just talking about the mid-term elections in November. Not sure that there is a third party candidate.It’s rather hard to support a party when prominent members of that party keep attacking me and sidelining Tesla & SpaceX!— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 31, 2022
Finally asked whether Trump was relatively supportive of Tesla and SpaceX Musk replied saying “Yeah, although I hesitate to admit that, because there are a lot of people that foam at the mouth if you even mention his name!”
Yeah, although I hesitate to admit that, because there are a lot of people that foam at the mouth if you even mention his name!— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 31, 2022
In the face of it, Musk’s alliance with Trump seems unlikely. During his administration, Trump was an ardent supporter of coal and new oil explorations. However, in an interview Trump has called Musk one of America’s geniuses and that he should be protected.
And given the difference in attitude between Trump and the Democrats towards Musk, it is not at all surprising why the Tesla CEO might believe the former president is better for his ventures.
As of now Musk’s dispute with Democrats shows no signs of abating. However, we will be sure to keep you posted as the saga continues. Until then, make sure to visit our site torquenews.com/Tesla regularly for the latest updates.
So what do you think? Surprised to learn Musk believes Trump was a better president for Tesla than Biden? Also, what do you make of Elon’s recent political entanglements? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
Image: Taken from Donald Trump & Elon Musk’s Wikipedia page, pictures combined by author
For more information check out: Tesla Up 35 Spots On Fortune 500 List: 2021 Earnings
Tinsae Aregay has been following Tesla and The evolution of the EV space on a daily basis for several years. He covers everything about Tesla from the cars to Elon Musk, the energy business, and autonomy. Follow Tinsae on Twitter at @TinsaeAregay for daily Tesla news.
Comments
This looks to me like
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This looks to me like narcissism by Elon Musk, getting in the way of his own judgment. He plans decades out for Tesla. The Democratic Party's economic horizon is usually years out. We're lucky if the Republicans think beyond next month; most of the time it's poll driven reaction to current events. In the end our economic future comes down to fights over unions and wealth inequality, and the hard fact is, we're not going to have electrification or indeed much of an economy, with a continuation of current extreme levels of wealth inequality, and without unions and friendly politicians making the tax code more progressive and corporate governance less shareholder focused and more stakeholder based -- particularly elevating customers in the equation -- we're going to be stuck in that loop and falling behind other parts of the world. The ugly truth is we won't be able to afford Elon's products, while Europe and China will, given Republican economics.
Shorebreeze, that is the most
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In reply to This looks to me like by shorebreeze (not verified)
Shorebreeze, that is the most delusional thing I will read all day. This administration has been an unmitigated disaster for this country. Good Lord they haven't done one single thing right. Biden has saved Jimmy Carter's legacy and made his administration look pretty awesome though.