Elon Musk criticizes President Biden after exclusion from White House meeting with top business leaders

Tesla CEO Elon Musk called US President Joe Biden a “damp sock puppet in human form” after he was snubbed from a White House summit meeting of top business leaders, including the CEOs of General Motors and Ford.

Musk was frustrated when Biden left out the name of Tesla in a Twitter post where he said, “Companies like GM and Ford are building more electric vehicles here at home than ever before.” Musk added, “Biden is treating the American public like fools.”

Musk was not invited to the White House electric vehicle summit last August. When asked why Tesla was not included in that event, White House press secretary Jen Psaki noted the three firms in attendance were “the three largest employers of the United Auto Workers.” 

Musk addressed Tesla’s exclusion from the electric vehicle summit during an appearance at the Code Conference in California last September. He noted that White House officials “didn’t mention Tesla once.”

“Does that sound maybe a little biased or something?” Musk said at the time. “It’s not the friendliest administration,” Musk added, stating that the Biden administration “seems to be controlled by the unions.”

Tesla owns a significant portion of the current US electric vehicle marketplace. The company delivered a record 936,172 electric cars in the 2021 fiscal year, an increase of 87 percent compared to the previous year.

Tesla reported fourth-quarter sales of $17.72 billion this week, surpassing Wall Street’s expectations.