Tesla, Inc. TSLA CEO Elon Musk and President Joe Biden have in the past shared a frosty relationship, with the former accusing the latter of not acknowledging Tesla as the EV industry leader and instead touting General Motors Corp. GM as the frontrunner.
What Happened: Against this backdrop, a Reuters report said on Friday that Musk met with two top White House officials, namely John Podesta, Biden’s senior adviser for clean energy innovation, and Mitch Landrieu, who oversees infrastructure spending. The meeting reportedly involved a discussion on how Tesla and the Biden administration could work together to advance EV production and expedite the electrification of EV networks in the U.S.
They met to “discuss shared goals around electrification and how the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act can advance electric vehicle production and charging as well as the broader cause of electrification,” a White House spokesperson said, according to Reuters. Later, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed the development in her Friday press briefing. When probed as to whether the meeting marked a change in the relationship between the White House and Musk, she said the outreach and the meeting underlined the importance of the infrastructure legislation for the president.
When the Reuters report was shared by one of Musk’s followers, the Telsa CEO confirmed the development. “True,” he said in a one-word comment.
Why It’s Important: Musk was once a supporter of Biden, but his political leaning has shifted. Of late, the billionaire has been very vocal about his support for the Republican Party. He has also mentioned that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis would be an ideal candidate for the 2024 presidential election.
In the past, Musk did not take kindly to Biden leaving him out of an EV summit hosted by the White House in August 2021. The White House implied that the snub may have to do with Tesla not allowing the unionization of its employees. Musk also opposed the billionaires' tax plan proposed by the Democratic Party.
Signaling a thawing in the relationship, Musk liked two of Biden's tweets last year, in which the president flaunted his achievements in the two years of his presidency.
Once, when Biden tweeted about GM and Ford Motor Company F building more EVs at home than ever before, Musk replied to the tweet, calling for Biden to acknowledge Tesla.
Photo: jlhervàs and Tesla Owners Club Belgium on flickr
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.
