On Friday, US President Joe Biden made a disparaging comparison between Tesla (TSLA.O) and Ford (F.N), sarcastically wishing Chief Executive Elon Musk “lots of luck” on his “journey to the moon” after the billionaire expressed concerns about the economy.
According to Reuters, Musk wrote to executives in an email that he had a “very awful feeling” about the US economy and that the electric carmaker needs to reduce approximately 10% of its workforce.
When asked about Musk’s statements by Reuters, Biden stated that the problem might be with Tesla.
“While Elon Musk is talking about it, Ford is significantly upping their investment,” Biden remarked. “Ford is boosting its investment in electric vehicles and developing new models. In the Midwest, there are 6,000 new employees, all of whom are unionised.”
He went on to say, “So, you know, best of luck on his voyage to the moon.”
“Thanks, Mr President!” Musk answered on Twitter, with a link to NASA’s April 2021 award of a $2.9 billion contract to Musk’s SpaceX to develop a spacecraft to transport astronauts to the moon.
It’s not the first time the 79-year-old commander-in-chief, who admits to an occasional Irish temper, has clashed with South African-born Musk, 50, who rose to become the world’s wealthiest man as a serial entrepreneur but has now shifted his focus to U.S. political disputes and a Twitter takeover.
Electric vehicles (EVs) are at the heart of Biden’s plan to transform the United States into a manufacturing powerhouse, compete with China, and combat climate change. In Detroit, however, he has paid far more attention to Musk’s unionised competition.
Musk has been critical of Biden’s union-first, subsidy-heavy approach to creating the EV market in his many tweets directed at the president, complaining about the lack of appreciation.
Last month, Musk declared that he would no longer vote for members of Biden’s Democratic Party because they had “become the party of division and hate.”
After acquiring Twitter, he promised to restore Republican former President Donald Trump’s access to the social media platform.
Tesla outperformed Wall Street expectations in April, despite hiking prices to combat the car industry’s inflationary pressures.
After Reuters released the news on Musk’s email, shares plunged more than 8% on Friday, as investors were concerned that the CEO’s words foreshadowed future troubles. Musk announced on Tuesday that employees who do not work for 40 hours per week will be fired.
Prior to Biden’s remark on Musk, Trump had just delivered a speech hailing stronger-than-expected job creation in May and rebuffing criticism of his handling of inflation, which is near 40-year highs.
However, he warned that, if the Federal Reserve rises interest rates to combat inflation, job growth may decrease in the coming months.
“We’re not likely to see the kind of month after month of blockbuster job numbers that we’ve seen this year,” he said. “That, however, is a positive thing. This is a sign of a strong economy.”
Chairman Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) cautioned this week that “you have brace yourself” for an impending economic “storm.” find out more
Other executives and economists, on the other hand, believe that the solid labour market, consumer savings, and robust demand in the United States will assist the economy achieve a “soft landing” to more sustainable growth at lower levels following the COVID-19 pandemic’s quick recovery.
