Failed presidential candidate Kamala Harris says former President Joe Biden “made a big mistake” by excluding Tesla CEO Elon Musk from a 2021 White House event celebrating America’s electric vehicle industry.
In August 2021, Biden hosted executives from General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis to promote his electric vehicle agenda.
But Musk, whose company dominates the U.S. EV market, was notably left off the guest list.
In an interview with Fortune Editor-in-Chief Alyson Shontell at the outlet’s Most Powerful Women Summit in Washington, D.C., this week, Harris said:
“I write in the book that I thought it was a big mistake to not invite Elon Musk when we did a big EV event.”
The comment referred to her new memoir, “107 Days,” in which Harris also criticizes Biden for seeking re-election despite ongoing health struggles.
“I mean, here he is, the major American manufacturer of extraordinary innovation in this space,” Harris said of Musk, who also heads SpaceX.
Biden’s Union Loyalty Blamed for the Snub
The decision to exclude Musk was widely viewed as a political move to appease organized labor.
Tesla’s workforce is not unionized, unlike employees at the automakers Biden invited.
Harris wrote that Biden was “sending a message about Musk’s anti-union stance,” but argued that leaving Tesla out of the event “simply doesn’t make sense.”
At the time, then–White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki defended the invite list, saying the event featured “the three largest employers of the United Auto Workers.”
Pressed on whether Tesla’s exclusion was punishment for not being unionized, Psaki told reporters:
“I’ll let you draw your own conclusion.”
The Biden administration maintained that its EV summit focused on companies advancing the president’s goal of expanding union jobs.
Harris: Presidents Should “Put Aside Political Loyalties”
Harris said presidents should recognize innovation regardless of politics or labor affiliations.
“So, I thought that was a mistake, and I don’t know Elon Musk, but I have to assume that that was something that hit him hard and had an impact on his perspective,” she said.
Musk appeared to agree.
Following his exclusion, the Tesla CEO publicly mocked Biden’s decision.
“Yeah, seems odd that Tesla wasn’t invited,” Musk wrote at the time on social media.
A month later, Musk accused the Biden administration of being “controlled by unions” and “not the friendliest administration.”
According to The Wall Street Journal, White House officials later offered Musk an apology.
Nevertheless, tensions between the two sides persisted.
From Snub to Alliance
Harris’s recent comments echo passages from her book, where she wrote that the decision not to include Tesla was a strategic blunder that alienated Musk.
Musk later became one of President Donald Trump’s most influential financial backers.
“Musk never forgave it,” she wrote.
Musk went on to endorse Trump in the 2024 election, contributing roughly $300 million toward Republican campaign efforts.
READ MORE – Kamala Harris Claims Trump Voters Are Complaining to Her That ‘They Feel Lied To’
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