autoevolution
 

Elon Musk Takes Biden’s Refusal to Acknowledge Tesla’s Presence on the EV Market to Heart

The automotive industry has made considerable progress toward a wider EV (electric vehicle) adoption, but the road ahead is still long and challenging. Meanwhile, Tesla has established itself as the leader in sales and performance for electric vehicles.
Tesla is the leader on the EV market, but President Joe Biden refuses to say so 9 photos
Photo: Evannex via Change.org
Joe Biden and Electric HummerJoe Biden and Electric HummerJoe Biden and Electric HummerJoe Biden and Electric HummerJoe Biden and Electric HummerJoe Biden and Electric HummerJoe Biden and Electric HummerJoe Biden and Electric Hummer
Based on this, one would be right to assume that any official discussion with automotive leaders in the United States would involve Tesla in at least some capacity. That doesn’t apply where President Joe Biden is concerned, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk is really taking it to heart.

Last week, President Biden met with Marry Barra of General Motors and Jim Farley from Ford and ended up praising Barra for GM’s contribution to his plan Build Back Better. The video included in the tweet, available at the bottom of the page, shows the two talking about plans to go fully electric and, in the process, create more jobs for Americans.

The meeting did not just exclude a representative for Tesla, but even mentions of the company, which seems ironic: Biden is praising GM and Ford as “EV leaders” but Tesla is, for the time being, the undisputed leader in terms of sales. Musk is taking his frustration over it out on Twitter.

Musk started by pointing out the glaring omission on Biden’s part: it starts with a T, ends in A, and has ESL in the middle, he writes in one tweet. He continued with the open criticism in replies and ended up calling Biden a “damp sock puppet in human form,” before saying there was an unexplained reason for which the President kept ignoring Tesla.

Musk also retweeted a message of support for a currently-very popular Change.org petition, which urges the President to “do the right thing and acknowledge Tesla for its hard work in making EVs a possibility for Americans,” and to stop “manipulating” the public into believing Ford and GM are leaders in this respect. As of the time of press, the petition has almost 28,000 signatures and is well on its way to becoming one of the most signed petitions on the platform. Meaning, Musk is not alone in seeing this.

Of course, Biden’s obvious blind spot when it comes to Tesla (or SpaceX, for that matter) is a political move. Tesla is not unionized and, to paraphrase Musk, the President is punishing the company for it by excluding it from any kind of official discussion or public acknowledgment.







If you liked the article, please follow us:  Google News icon Google News Youtube Instagram X (Twitter)

Editor's note: Photos in the gallery show President Joe Biden taking the Hummer EV for a drive.

About the author: Elena Gorgan
Elena Gorgan profile photo

Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends.
Full profile

 

Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?

You will only receive our top stories