Biden’s Comments on Rival Firms Potentially Drew Elon Musk’s Ire

Elon Musk’s journey from Democrats to Republicans reportedly started with a comment by Joe Biden. The remarks that upset the Tesla CEO were delivered in 2021 when the President named General Motors the company that had “electrified the entire automobile industry” in the United States. Musk, however, believes his firm has spearheaded electronic vehicles and was irritated by the snub. 

The President also said Detroit was “leading the world” in automobile manufacturing and did not mention Austin, where Tesla is headquartered. Analysts say the President likely avoided Musk’s company under pressure from auto manufacturing unions, and because of its reported anti-union practices. 

Musk recently expressed his support of Donald Trump but caused some confusion and embarrassment when rumors spread that he intended to donate a whopping $45 million per month to the Trump campaign. At a Michigan rally, the former President praised Mr. Musk and told a roaring crowd about the $45 million donation. However, Musk denied such plans and told reporters, “At no point did I say I was donating $45 million a month to Trump.” He described the rumor as “fiction” and said it was “made up” by journalists. 

Nevertheless, the Twitter owner has endorsed Mr. Trump and launched online attacks on Vice President Kamala Harris. In a recent tweet, Musk accused Harris of seeking the extinction of humanity over remarks she made about people’s fears for the future, explicitly surrounding climate change. 

A video of the Vice President’s comments was shared online by Donald Trump Jr., who accused Harris of encouraging young people not to have families. Musk replied, “Shamala is an extinctionist.” 

Mr. Musk also came under fire for sharing a manipulated video of Kamala Harris in which she appears to describe herself as “the ultimate diversity hire.” Musk attracted several negative responses, including from people arguing that the video did not include confirmation that it was an artificial intelligence-generated clip. 

Senior Republicans have asked lawmakers and pro-Trump supporters not to refer to Harris as a “DEI hire” amid fears it would portray the GOP as a racist or sexist party.