President Joe Biden on Friday dismissed Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s reported “super bad feeling” about the U.S. economy, whereas praising a few of Musk’s rivals for increasing their investments in electrical automobiles.
Biden then took a dismissive-sounding swipe at Musk, a frequent critic of his administration. “A lot of luck on his journey to the moon,” Biden stated of the SpaceX founder.
The president had been requested about Musk after a speech in Delaware touting the solid jobs report launched earlier Friday. The Labor Division discovered that the U.S. economic system added 390,000 jobs in Could, a greater determine than anticipated, whereas the unemployment price held on the low degree of three.6%.
Musk, in the meantime, instructed executives in an e-mail Thursday that he has a “tremendous unhealthy feeling” concerning the economic system and will need to cut 10% of Tesla’s jobs, according to Reuters. Tesla shares fell on Friday.
Requested about Musk’s reported feeling, Biden praised Ford and Stellantis.
“Effectively, let me let you know, whereas Elon Musk is speaking about that, Ford is rising their funding overwhelmingly,” Biden stated, pulling a notecard from his jacket pocket.
“I feel Ford is rising funding in constructing new electrical automobiles, 6,000 new staff, union staff, I would add, within the Midwest,” he stated, including that “the previous Chrysler company, Stellantis, they’re additionally making related investments in electrical automobiles.”
Biden additionally famous Intel’s plans so as to add 20,000 new jobs as a part of an investment in Ohio.Â
“So, you recognize, plenty of luck on his journey to the moon,” Biden stated with a wave of his arms.
Musk did not instantly reply to a request for remark. However inside minutes of Biden’s comment, Musk tweeted “Thanks Mr. President!” together with an April 2021 press release from NASA saying that SpaceX, Musk’s rocket journey firm, had been chosen to land the subsequent Individuals on the moon.
Musk, one of many world’s richest individuals, is within the midst of a deal to buy Twitter for $44 billion. He is just lately taken to sharing extra politically charged tweets, together with one message final month bashing Democrats and vowing to vote Republican.
The president’s put-down marked the newest level of friction with Musk, who has been brazenly crucial of each the White Home and Biden himself.
In March, Musk bristled after Biden’s State of the Union tackle cheered the electric-vehicle efforts being made by Ford and General Motors whereas failing to say Tesla.
“No one is watching the State of the Union,” Musk stated in an e-mail to CNBC.
Two months later, Musk slammed the Biden administration as ineffective and stated that “the actual president is whoever controls [Biden’s] teleprompter.”
A spokesman for Biden shot again: “Depend us as unsurprised that an anti-labor billionaire would search for any alternative to nip on the heels of essentially the most pro-union and pro-worker President in fashionable historical past.”
— CNBC’s Brian Schwartz contributed to this report.
