Elon Musk and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump met on Monday night X live stream THE discuss topics starting from immigration to foreign relations. Musk, who runs electric vehicle (EV) major Tesla, in particular presented the advantages of Tesla EVs to over a million viewers who engaged in the conversation.
“People can still have a steak and they can still drive gas cars, that's fine, I don't think we should bash people for that,” Musk said. “But I think we should generally lean in the direction of sustainability.”
Musk said the future Tesla was trying to move people towards was solar and electric power. Solar energy would create the electricity needed to fuel the vehicles.
“We don't believe that environmentalism, taking care of the environment, should mean you have to suffer,” Musk said, adding that Tesla cars are “beautiful,” “fast” and “cool.” According to results released in July, Tesla produced around 411,000 EVs in the second quarter of 2024, resulting in a second consecutive year-on-year decline in shipments – but its results beat Wall Street expectations.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 13, 2024
Trump complimented Musk on X's live stream, saying “You make a great product I must say. I have to be honest with you. It doesn't mean that everyone should have an electric car, but these are small details, but your product is outstanding.”
EVs have become a politically polarizing issue, with automakers like Ford reducing how much they produce because of political division. However, Musk's EV move could help bridge the divide.
“I think there's been a history of Musk being able to move former President Trump (on) electric vehicles, government subsidies of that industry,” said Veda Partners director of economic policy research Henrietta Treyz. Bloomberg on Tuesday.
After Trump survived an attempt on his life in July, Musk not only endorsed Trump with a written approval of social media but it is also said promised $45 million a month in America PAC, a pro-Trump political super committee.
At a rally earlier this month in Georgia, Trump said he it had to support EVs after Musk's approval.
“I'm for electric cars. I have to be because, you know, Elon endorsed me very strongly,” Trump told the crowd.
“So, I have no other choice,” he added.
Tesla is down 17.39% year-to-date at the time of writing.