Here's how Elon Musk spent his Christmas reigniting his feud with Joe Biden

Kwan Wei Kevin Tan

December 26, 2023 5:24 AM

It looks like Joe Biden was very much on Elon Musk's mind this Christmas.

Elon Musk (left) and Joe Biden (right).Slaven Vlasic via Getty Images; Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

Elon Musk really doesn't like Joe Biden.
Musk on Christmas Eve slammed the president for excluding Tesla from the White House EV summit in 2021.
Musk has often brought up the incident whenever he criticizes Biden.

The Tesla CEO spent his Christmas holidays slamming the US president's treatment of his company.

"Let's not forget the White House giving Tesla the cold shoulder, excluding us from the EV summit and crediting GM with 'leading the electric car revolution' in the same quarter that they delivered 26 electric cars (not a typo) and Tesla delivered 300 thousand," Musk wrote on X on Sunday.

Musk expanded on his criticisms of Biden the next day when he accused Biden of being beholden to the unions.

"Most of the Democratic Party is controlled by the unions — they carry far more weight than the environmentalists — and Biden particularly so (he gladly admits it)," Musk wrote in another X post on Christmas Day, while reposting a speech Biden delivered in May 2021.

"In Biden's speech, posted on WhiteHouse.gov, he literally says 'the UAW elected me,'" Musk continued. "The White House cold shoulder started well before I 'said controversial things.'"

Tesla's exclusion from Biden's EV summit in 2021 has been a huge bugbear for Musk.

The mercurial billionaire has often referenced the incident, most recently at The New York Times Dealbook Summit last month.

"They held an electric vehicle summit at the White House and specifically refused to let Tesla attend. Biden went on to add insult to injury and publicly said GM was leading the electric car revolution," Musk told moderator Andrew Ross Sorkin.

The ill will between the two men would probably explain Musk's shifting political allegiances.

The billionaire, who previously said he supported Barack Obama, told Sorkin at the same summit that he won't be voting for Biden's reelection.

In November 2022, Musk voiced his support for GOP presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

"My preference for the 2024 presidency is someone sensible and centrist. I had hoped that would be the case for the Biden administration, but have been disappointed so far," Musk said in an X post at the time.

Representatives for Musk and Biden did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.

Kwan Wei Kevin Tan