Joe Biden finally mentions ‘Tesla’ after Elon Musk complaints

US President Joe Biden called Tesla the country’s “largest electricvehicle manufacturer” after facing repeated calls to acknowledge the company as a leader in the automotive and clean-energy industries. The White House has indicated a preference for traditional manufacturers employing unionized workers, and Musk has made his feelings about that proclivity known.

During a speech focused on boosting domestic electric-vehicle manufacturing, Biden spoke of Tesla’s influence on the industry — a departure from his usual praise for legacy automakers like Ford and General Motors. The president said over $200 billion in manufacturing investments had been greenlighted by companies since last year. He also announced the Australian company Tritium would construct a plant in Tennessee and produce up to 30,000 electric-vehicle chargers annually.

Referring to the companies that had invested in factories in recent months in the US, he first mentioned “iconic companies,” like GM and Ford and their new electric vehicle production, but then cited “Tesla, our nation’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer.” Musk replied to a tweet noting the comment with a smiling sunglasses emoji.

On January 28, Musk who is also the CEO of Spacex, which has government contracts with Nasa and the US military, called Biden “a damp sock puppet in human form” after he met executives from General Motors and Ford to discuss his administration’s $1.75 trillion ‘Build Back Better’ legislation.