Biden warned of oligarchs. Some officials worry he may have helped create one.
CNN
President Joe Biden’s warnings Wednesday night about social media misinformation, the tech-industrial complex and the concentration of wealth and power struck many as a not-so-subtle shot across the bow at Elon Musk, the world’s richest man who’s also become President-elect Donald Trump’s closest consigliere.
President Joe Biden’s warnings Wednesday night about social media misinformation, the tech-industrial complex and the concentration of wealth and power struck many as a not-so-subtle shot across the bow at Elon Musk, the world’s richest man who’s also become President-elect Donald Trump’s closest consigliere. But within the White House, many officials are grappling with a missed opportunity to cultivate Musk as an ally, whose interests as an electric vehicle manufacturer often aligned with the administration, a staunch supporter of clean energy initiatives. Worse, some have wondered whether their actions to exclude Musk may have emboldened the entrepreneur to back Trump and pour a quarter-billion dollars into efforts to reelect him. Musk, a former Democrat, had not backed either candidate until Trump survived a mid-July assassination attempt. One incident in particular stands out. In 2021, Biden held an event celebrating electric vehicle manufacturers. Tesla was not included, despite being the largest EV manufacturer in the world. At the event, Biden praised the work of General Motors, Ford, and Stellantis – despite EVs being a small fraction of their overall business. Musk, according to people involved in the planning, was left off the invitation list because Tesla workers were not unionized. One White House official equated the move to former President Barack Obama’s roasting of Trump – then a private citizen – at the 2011 White House Correspondents Dinner, a singular event that has since been said to catalyze Trump to run for president years later.
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