After the electric car summit
Elon Musk calls Joe Biden a “wet sock puppet” – because the President publicly ignores Tesla
Tesla boss Elon Musk is mad at Joe Biden
© Patrick Pleul / DPA
“Biden is a wet sock puppet in human form.” That’s what Elon Musk said in a tweet. He has repeatedly attacked the US President on Twitter. The trigger was a summit with the heads of large electric car manufacturers in the White House.
Tesla is a pioneer in electric mobility and the world’s leading electric car manufacturer. However, unlike the CEOs of General Motors and Ford, Tesla boss Elon Musk was not present at the summit in the White House last Wednesday, which was about the production of electric cars in the USA.
US President Joe Biden praised the two automakers on Twitter for “building more electric vehicles here at home than ever before”. Ford CEO Jim Farley also responded to the White House meeting, writing that he appreciated the opportunity to meet with President Biden to discuss the importance of strong consumer EV incentives. “I am confident that our government can find a way to make it happen,” Farley tweeted on Wednesday.
Not a word was said about Tesla. This was angry with CEO Elon Musk. He tweeted: “Starts with a T, ends with an A, ESL is in the middle”. The 50-year-old wanted to draw attention to his electric car company, which claims to have increased its profits by 665 percent in 2021 compared to the previous year. Its headquarters are in Texas and its vehicles are manufactured in California. And Elon Musk didn’t stop there. He later wrote on Twitter: “Biden is a wet sock puppet in human form.”
Tensions between Joe Biden and Elon Musk have been going on for months
Tensions between Joe Biden and Elon Musk have been going on for some time. At a convention in December, the Tesla boss criticized Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” agenda, which includes job creation, tax cuts and cutting costs for working-class families. Musk also opposes efforts by the United Auto Workers union to organize the Tesla plant in Fremont, California. The background is Biden’s efforts for employee-friendly processes. In addition, Tesla is also currently facing criticism for opening a new store in China’s Xinjiang region. According to human rights activists and Western governments, Beijing is using so-called re-education camps and forced labor to oppress the Muslim Uyghur minority there.
In August, Elon Musk had already missed out on an electric vehicle summit where Biden backed the CEOs of Ford, General Motors and Stellantis. He announced a regulation that would require half of the cars sold in the US to be zero-emissions by 2030. In November, the US President was spotted driving a General Motors electric pickup. The carmaker had invited Biden to its plant. Biden has not yet visited a Tesla plant in the USA. There has also not been a public meeting with Musk so far.
Tesla fans found petition
Meanwhile, Tesla supporters have started a petition calling on the US President to “recognize Tesla’s leadership” in electric mobility. Accordingly, they accuse Joe Biden of intentionally ignoring Tesla’s work. In addition, they speak of “manipulation” in his behavior, since he sees General Motors as the leading electric car manufacturer in the United States. More than 30,000 signatures had already been collected by Monday afternoon. Elon Musk himself supports the petition on Twitter and writes: “For reasons unknown, Joe Biden is unable to pronounce the word ‘Tesla’.”
Sources: dailymail, Tesla petition, forbes, with material from the DPA