1
00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:09,560
Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.

2
00:00:12,640 --> 00:00:15,520
Speaker 2: Well, Elon Musks now the richest person on the planet.

3
00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:18,720
Speaker 3: More than half the satellites in space are owned and

4
00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:20,759
Speaker 3: controlled by one man.

5
00:00:21,120 --> 00:00:25,160
Speaker 2: Starting his own artificial intelligence company. Well, he's a legitimate

6
00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:27,080
Speaker 2: super genius. I mean legitimate.

7
00:00:27,240 --> 00:00:27,600
Speaker 4: He says.

8
00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:30,240
Speaker 5: He's always voted for Democrats, but this year it will

9
00:00:30,240 --> 00:00:30,680
Speaker 5: be different.

10
00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:31,680
Speaker 1: He'll vote Republican.

11
00:00:31,960 --> 00:00:34,440
Speaker 2: There is a reason the US government is so reliant

12
00:00:34,479 --> 00:00:34,840
Speaker 2: on him.

13
00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:38,640
Speaker 5: Elon Musk is a scam artist and he's done nothing.

14
00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:52,599
Speaker 3: Anything he does is fascinating the people. Welcome to Elon Ink,

15
00:00:52,640 --> 00:00:57,680
Speaker 3: Bloomberg's weekly podcast about Elon Musk. It's Tuesday, October twenty second.

16
00:00:57,960 --> 00:01:00,960
Speaker 3: I'm your host, David Popotopolis, and I'm sitting in a

17
00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:04,240
Speaker 3: studio in London with our man Max Chafkin.

18
00:01:04,720 --> 00:01:04,880
Speaker 6: Hey.

19
00:01:04,880 --> 00:01:08,520
Speaker 3: They're Max. Hey, David and Max and I are about

20
00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:11,280
Speaker 3: to record a live episode of Elon Inc. At Bloomberg's

21
00:01:11,319 --> 00:01:13,679
Speaker 3: Tech Summit here in London. And you're gonna hear that

22
00:01:13,959 --> 00:01:17,040
Speaker 3: soon enough. But we first have some exciting news for you.

23
00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:21,160
Speaker 3: A new podcast series hosted by Max, and it's called

24
00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:24,679
Speaker 3: Citizen Elon. It's a deep dive into Elon Trump and

25
00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:27,600
Speaker 3: the election, and the stakes couldn't be higher for either

26
00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:32,039
Speaker 3: America or Elon Musk. It has three parts, and we've

27
00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:33,880
Speaker 3: got an excerpt of the first of them for you

28
00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:36,720
Speaker 3: in a little bit. The full episode is exclusive to

29
00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:39,960
Speaker 3: the Bloomberg subscribers to listen to as of today, and

30
00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:42,440
Speaker 3: then everyone else can listen to it starting on Friday

31
00:01:42,760 --> 00:01:46,440
Speaker 3: right here in this feed. Okay, so to subscribe today,

32
00:01:46,520 --> 00:01:50,760
Speaker 3: you do so at Bloomberg dot com Backslash podcast offer,

33
00:01:51,520 --> 00:01:54,240
Speaker 3: and follow Elon Ink on Apple Podcasts wherever you like

34
00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:56,400
Speaker 3: to listen. Now, Max, I have to tell you the

35
00:01:56,440 --> 00:02:00,320
Speaker 3: show is awesome and the music is really great, Like

36
00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:03,360
Speaker 3: why don't we get this incredible music for our shows?

37
00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:06,800
Speaker 2: Well, you know you have to ask our producer Lena Metzitskis,

38
00:02:06,840 --> 00:02:09,720
Speaker 2: who did an amazing job putting this thing together. And

39
00:02:10,040 --> 00:02:12,040
Speaker 2: you know, it really helps tell the story, which is

40
00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:17,880
Speaker 2: like totally I mean potentially unprecedented engagement between like money

41
00:02:17,919 --> 00:02:18,560
Speaker 2: and politics.

42
00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:21,800
Speaker 3: It's fantastic. The whole thing sounds great. The music is

43
00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:24,240
Speaker 3: so good. It makes you, I must feel like, makes

44
00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:27,519
Speaker 3: you sound smart almost. I would dare say area, which

45
00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:29,520
Speaker 3: is which is not a term that usually comes to

46
00:02:29,560 --> 00:02:31,600
Speaker 3: mind when I think about you not now what it

47
00:02:32,160 --> 00:02:35,079
Speaker 3: was the thought process that made you guys say, hey,

48
00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:40,240
Speaker 3: we need to roll out a Citizen Elon series.

49
00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:43,000
Speaker 2: Well, I mean we talk all the time on this

50
00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:47,360
Speaker 2: podcast about how you know, Elon Musk has his attention

51
00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:50,360
Speaker 2: is very divided, right. He's he's running this giant car company,

52
00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:52,880
Speaker 2: he's running this giant rock company, He's got Neuralink, He's

53
00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:54,880
Speaker 2: got the boring company, He's got X. It's a lot

54
00:02:54,919 --> 00:02:58,000
Speaker 2: going on, right And while this is all going on,

55
00:02:58,120 --> 00:03:01,959
Speaker 2: he's basically has another company, which is this pack America

56
00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:05,600
Speaker 2: pack and his political engagement and then the money. We've

57
00:03:05,680 --> 00:03:08,280
Speaker 2: sort of talked about this in sort of scattered ways

58
00:03:08,280 --> 00:03:11,080
Speaker 2: on this podcast, but the amount of money he's spending

59
00:03:11,320 --> 00:03:13,840
Speaker 2: is enormous. He's going to be one of the biggest donors,

60
00:03:13,880 --> 00:03:16,760
Speaker 2: if not the biggest donors this cycle. And when you

61
00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:20,919
Speaker 2: add in his political engagement on X and the way

62
00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:24,160
Speaker 2: he's campaigned for Trump, I think it starts to add

63
00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:27,560
Speaker 2: up to something that's unprecedented in terms of a rich

64
00:03:27,639 --> 00:03:31,040
Speaker 2: guy attempting to, you know, really put his thumb on

65
00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:33,360
Speaker 2: the scale and get a presidential candidate elected.

66
00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:36,560
Speaker 3: And we've seen that Max actually in the last couple

67
00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:40,960
Speaker 3: of days. This whole thing coming out of Pennsylvania where

68
00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:47,960
Speaker 3: it appears that Musk is giving away daily donations one

69
00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:53,560
Speaker 3: million dollars to the citizens of Pennsylvania. Who for what

70
00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:57,480
Speaker 3: if you are registered Republican, what's the This is.

71
00:03:57,440 --> 00:04:00,600
Speaker 2: Like very publishers clearing house kind of vibes. So Elon

72
00:04:00,760 --> 00:04:04,160
Speaker 2: has been criss crossing the state of Pennsylvania doing these

73
00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:09,680
Speaker 2: town halls, and every day his pack America pack is

74
00:04:10,200 --> 00:04:13,720
Speaker 2: giving away a million dollars to one registered voter in

75
00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:15,440
Speaker 2: I believe it's seven swing states.

76
00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:17,400
Speaker 3: Oh, it's not just Pennsylvany, not just Pennsylvania.

77
00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:20,040
Speaker 2: It's it's the states that they have decided will matter

78
00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:21,400
Speaker 2: for the presidential election.

79
00:04:21,520 --> 00:04:22,800
Speaker 3: The states you all know and love.

80
00:04:22,920 --> 00:04:26,400
Speaker 2: You have to sign Elon's petition. The petition is in

81
00:04:26,400 --> 00:04:29,200
Speaker 2: support of the first and second amendments. Don't ask me

82
00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:31,880
Speaker 2: why it's only those two on the constitution matter, but

83
00:04:32,200 --> 00:04:34,760
Speaker 2: I guess those are the top two and they are

84
00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:37,680
Speaker 2: the first two exactly. Yes, So you have to be

85
00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:40,040
Speaker 2: a registered voter, you have to sign an amendment. If

86
00:04:40,040 --> 00:04:43,160
Speaker 2: you sign sign a petition in support of those amendments,

87
00:04:43,480 --> 00:04:45,960
Speaker 2: and if you do that first, you get a check. So,

88
00:04:46,279 --> 00:04:48,919
Speaker 2: so Elon was giving one hundred dollars to everyone who

89
00:04:49,160 --> 00:04:50,960
Speaker 2: who did this, as well as one hundred dollars to

90
00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:53,880
Speaker 2: everyone who referred their friends over the weekend. And then

91
00:04:53,920 --> 00:04:57,640
Speaker 2: you also are entered in this raffle which is for

92
00:04:57,680 --> 00:04:59,400
Speaker 2: a million dollars, and we've saw a couple of the winners.

93
00:04:59,440 --> 00:05:02,159
Speaker 2: They came on star Ago very happy. There of course,

94
00:05:02,200 --> 00:05:06,719
Speaker 2: are people who are saying this might be an election matually.

95
00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:09,520
Speaker 3: I don't know anything about anything, but for the love

96
00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:12,720
Speaker 3: of God, in the United States of America, how can

97
00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:15,160
Speaker 3: that possibly be legal.

98
00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:16,560
Speaker 2: There are a lot of people who are saying it's

99
00:05:16,520 --> 00:05:20,520
Speaker 2: not legal, including Governor of Pennsylvania Joshapiro. It is not

100
00:05:20,800 --> 00:05:23,760
Speaker 2: legal to pay someone to register to vote or to

101
00:05:23,839 --> 00:05:27,840
Speaker 2: pay someone for their vote. Now what Elon is doing

102
00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:31,120
Speaker 2: is a little bit different. He's paying people to sign

103
00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:35,120
Speaker 2: a petition. But there are experts in election law who

104
00:05:35,160 --> 00:05:39,279
Speaker 2: are saying that this lottery in particular crosses the line

105
00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:42,360
Speaker 2: because when you look at well, for two reasons, One

106
00:05:42,400 --> 00:05:46,599
Speaker 2: is Elon is specifically targeting swing states, and he's doing

107
00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:50,720
Speaker 2: it in this kind of like intense way, just ahead

108
00:05:50,839 --> 00:05:53,320
Speaker 2: of the deadline, essentially of the deadline to register to

109
00:05:53,400 --> 00:05:58,440
Speaker 2: vote Pennsylvania. So It kind of looks like a lottery

110
00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:02,880
Speaker 2: for voter register, which is specifically called out lotteries that is,

111
00:06:02,920 --> 00:06:07,320
Speaker 2: are specifically called out in the DOJ handbook on what

112
00:06:07,400 --> 00:06:10,600
Speaker 2: constitutes violation of election law, what constitutes vote buying. So

113
00:06:10,839 --> 00:06:15,159
Speaker 2: it looks, i'd say, legally dubious. It isn't as clear

114
00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:18,200
Speaker 2: cut as if you were, say, paying someone to register

115
00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:19,840
Speaker 2: to vote or something like that, which would be clear

116
00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:22,800
Speaker 2: violation of election law. But I would not at all

117
00:06:22,800 --> 00:06:26,039
Speaker 2: be surprised if we don't see some sort of investigation

118
00:06:26,240 --> 00:06:28,760
Speaker 2: or at least some questions asked of Elon Musk. Of course,

119
00:06:28,960 --> 00:06:31,479
Speaker 2: there are a lot of investigations into Elon Dusk and

120
00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:34,080
Speaker 2: his company, so my assumption is as usual that he

121
00:06:34,120 --> 00:06:35,839
Speaker 2: will put it in the big stack of you know,

122
00:06:35,880 --> 00:06:38,560
Speaker 2: investigation files on his desk and promptly ignore it.

123
00:06:38,680 --> 00:06:40,880
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, it does speak to how he loves

124
00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:44,000
Speaker 3: to push the envelope and test and probe and see

125
00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:46,640
Speaker 3: how far things can be taken. I guess we indeed

126
00:06:46,720 --> 00:06:49,840
Speaker 3: will see how authorities respond. But god, it just wouldn't

127
00:06:49,839 --> 00:06:52,000
Speaker 3: seem like it passes a smell test at any kind

128
00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:52,400
Speaker 3: of level.

129
00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:55,640
Speaker 2: I mean, it's rich considering, you know, Elon himself has

130
00:06:55,640 --> 00:06:59,159
Speaker 2: sort of complained about you know, left wing money and politics.

131
00:06:59,200 --> 00:07:02,000
Speaker 2: You know, he brings up George Soros all the time,

132
00:07:02,400 --> 00:07:04,719
Speaker 2: you know, often in ways that seem a little sketchy

133
00:07:04,839 --> 00:07:08,080
Speaker 2: or conspiratorial or even borderline anti semitic. But again, here

134
00:07:08,120 --> 00:07:11,080
Speaker 2: we are now, we're now, we're buying now or or

135
00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:14,960
Speaker 2: he's at least enticing people to engage politically with with

136
00:07:15,040 --> 00:07:15,560
Speaker 2: his money.

137
00:07:16,320 --> 00:07:20,840
Speaker 3: In any event, that episode indeed highlights how incredibly important

138
00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:25,160
Speaker 3: this topic is and hence why we have now Citizen Elon.

139
00:07:25,640 --> 00:07:28,520
Speaker 3: So in episode one, which I've listened to, there are

140
00:07:28,520 --> 00:07:32,320
Speaker 3: a lot of, you know, terrific parts to it. The

141
00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:36,880
Speaker 3: one that I found most compelling, it's essentially it is

142
00:07:36,920 --> 00:07:39,440
Speaker 3: the conceit of the first episode, and we're going to

143
00:07:39,480 --> 00:07:41,000
Speaker 3: again we're going to listen to a little bit of

144
00:07:41,040 --> 00:07:46,040
Speaker 3: it coming up soon. Is essentially we are sort of

145
00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:49,880
Speaker 3: positing for the listener that, like, there would be no

146
00:07:50,120 --> 00:07:54,800
Speaker 3: Trump the candidate without the Barack Obama roasting of Trump

147
00:07:55,320 --> 00:07:58,440
Speaker 3: at the White House that night way back when there

148
00:07:58,480 --> 00:08:01,520
Speaker 3: would be no Musk, the poetical animal, and must the

149
00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:03,960
Speaker 3: political animal who's you know, run into the arms of

150
00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:08,880
Speaker 3: Donald Trump without the Great Joe Biden snub several years ago.

151
00:08:09,400 --> 00:08:10,280
Speaker 3: Is that how you see it?

152
00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:15,560
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I think that the Biden presidency, and

153
00:08:15,600 --> 00:08:19,840
Speaker 2: in particular this as Elon sees it, a snub, I

154
00:08:19,840 --> 00:08:20,720
Speaker 2: don't think this is.

155
00:08:20,840 --> 00:08:22,080
Speaker 3: That's how necessarily the.

156
00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:25,160
Speaker 2: Biden the snub was snub was And this will all

157
00:08:25,160 --> 00:08:27,360
Speaker 2: be explained on the podcast, but that Joe Biden, in

158
00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:31,760
Speaker 2: an effort to promote electric vehicles and in particular get

159
00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:35,640
Speaker 2: the Big Three, the Big Three Automakers and the United

160
00:08:35,640 --> 00:08:39,880
Speaker 2: Autoworkers the Big Union to get on board with electric vehicles,

161
00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:42,160
Speaker 2: held an event on the south lawn of the White

162
00:08:42,160 --> 00:08:46,439
Speaker 2: House in celebration of the you know, amazing efforts of

163
00:08:46,480 --> 00:08:50,719
Speaker 2: the UAW and the Big Three to electrify and did

164
00:08:50,720 --> 00:08:56,320
Speaker 2: not invite Elon Musk. And Elon has seen this since

165
00:08:56,360 --> 00:09:00,880
Speaker 2: then essentially as a grievous insult, as an emission that

166
00:09:01,160 --> 00:09:04,280
Speaker 2: you know, essentially wrote him out of history and his

167
00:09:04,360 --> 00:09:07,680
Speaker 2: achievements out of history, and and contributed to his his

168
00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:11,760
Speaker 2: drifting to the right and ultimately you know, radicalization and

169
00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:13,040
Speaker 2: supported Donald Trump.

170
00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:21,320
Speaker 3: Is it your sense that if the Biden administration had

171
00:09:21,360 --> 00:09:23,440
Speaker 3: to do it all all over again, that they would

172
00:09:23,480 --> 00:09:27,520
Speaker 3: have invited Elon Musk that day, knowing what they know now. No,

173
00:09:28,240 --> 00:09:28,880
Speaker 3: I don't think so.

174
00:09:29,080 --> 00:09:30,840
Speaker 2: No, I mean, I think I think they.

175
00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:32,640
Speaker 3: Even if it means that Elon Musk, as a result

176
00:09:32,640 --> 00:09:34,679
Speaker 3: of it, is now handing out a million dollars a

177
00:09:34,760 --> 00:09:37,320
Speaker 3: day to people who essentially back repara. I don't know.

178
00:09:37,400 --> 00:09:40,960
Speaker 2: I mean, you know, again, like we don't. First of all,

179
00:09:41,240 --> 00:09:44,240
Speaker 2: I'm not totally sure that the I'm not totally sure

180
00:09:44,280 --> 00:09:47,559
Speaker 2: that the Biden people ever saw Elon as an ally,

181
00:09:47,720 --> 00:09:49,880
Speaker 2: or ever saw Elon as somebody they wanted to cultivate.

182
00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:53,360
Speaker 2: I think there are certainly people in Democratic political circles

183
00:09:53,679 --> 00:09:55,960
Speaker 2: who are saying now that it was a grievous mistake,

184
00:09:56,000 --> 00:09:58,640
Speaker 2: and in particular the sort of corner of the Democratic

185
00:09:58,679 --> 00:10:01,880
Speaker 2: Party that is most in interested in sort of engagement

186
00:10:01,920 --> 00:10:05,280
Speaker 2: with CEOs and being perceived as business friendly. I'm not

187
00:10:05,320 --> 00:10:09,880
Speaker 2: sure that's the part of the Democratic Party that Biden

188
00:10:10,040 --> 00:10:12,880
Speaker 2: has been most interested in cultivating. So I don't know.

189
00:10:13,000 --> 00:10:15,240
Speaker 2: We're definitely seeing a lot of donors now coming out

190
00:10:15,240 --> 00:10:17,800
Speaker 2: and saying, hey, they really blew it. They had a chance,

191
00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:20,320
Speaker 2: you know, they could have brought Elon closer and said

192
00:10:20,320 --> 00:10:23,240
Speaker 2: they pushed him away, which of course is what has happened.

193
00:10:23,320 --> 00:10:26,920
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, it is the grievance to me seems

194
00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:30,400
Speaker 3: pretty easy to understand. I mean, it is a little

195
00:10:30,400 --> 00:10:34,640
Speaker 3: bit like if Biden decided to call an event on

196
00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:36,800
Speaker 3: the state of a football in the United States of

197
00:10:36,840 --> 00:10:38,959
Speaker 3: America and he didn't invite the NFL.

198
00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:39,319
Speaker 7: Yeah.

199
00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:40,960
Speaker 2: I mean, the thing you have to remember is that

200
00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:46,000
Speaker 2: Elon Musk spent you know, fifteen years of his life

201
00:10:46,600 --> 00:10:50,880
Speaker 2: promoting this technology, and especially during the early part of

202
00:10:50,920 --> 00:10:54,640
Speaker 2: that period, like in the mid two thousands, was seen

203
00:10:54,800 --> 00:10:57,840
Speaker 2: kind of as a joke or a sideshow an.

204
00:10:57,679 --> 00:11:00,600
Speaker 3: Election, and then it was to die not.

205
00:11:00,559 --> 00:11:04,720
Speaker 2: Taken seriously, and and you know, and in particular not

206
00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:08,880
Speaker 2: taken seriously by the Big Three. You know, GM of

207
00:11:08,920 --> 00:11:12,640
Speaker 2: course did help pioneer electric vehicles, but then killed its

208
00:11:12,679 --> 00:11:16,800
Speaker 2: electric car before Tesla came along, and and all these

209
00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:19,880
Speaker 2: these these Big three automakers were really committed to gigantic

210
00:11:20,040 --> 00:11:23,560
Speaker 2: SUVs gas guzzlers again, and all of a sudden, this

211
00:11:23,559 --> 00:11:27,480
Speaker 2: this thing happens. Joe Biden gets elected president and presents

212
00:11:27,600 --> 00:11:30,400
Speaker 2: electric vehicles as sort of part of the key to

213
00:11:30,840 --> 00:11:33,920
Speaker 2: his you know, build back Better initiative. This like this

214
00:11:34,240 --> 00:11:37,560
Speaker 2: effort to use industrial policy to create jobs and improve

215
00:11:37,559 --> 00:11:40,560
Speaker 2: the climate and everything, really putting this technology central and

216
00:11:40,559 --> 00:11:42,520
Speaker 2: saying this is this is it, this is the future.

217
00:11:42,559 --> 00:11:45,199
Speaker 2: We're going electric and and in a lot of ways, right,

218
00:11:45,240 --> 00:11:48,400
Speaker 2: he's he's embracing everything that Elon Musk has been talking

219
00:11:48,400 --> 00:11:50,400
Speaker 2: about for years and years and years, and he's not

220
00:11:50,480 --> 00:11:54,600
Speaker 2: including Elon Musk. And that I think was very upsetting,

221
00:11:54,600 --> 00:11:58,120
Speaker 2: and again understandably so, because he had worked very hard

222
00:11:58,160 --> 00:12:01,240
Speaker 2: on this and and Elon, if nothing else, has some

223
00:12:01,280 --> 00:12:01,960
Speaker 2: self regard.

224
00:12:02,600 --> 00:12:05,200
Speaker 3: Yes he does that, we do know, you know. The

225
00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:07,360
Speaker 3: one other interesting thing that jumps out at me in

226
00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:11,880
Speaker 3: the first episode is the irony of the fact that

227
00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:16,400
Speaker 3: Elon Musk is someone who, for Tesla and his other

228
00:12:16,440 --> 00:12:19,640
Speaker 3: companies basically refuses to spend a penny on advertising, and

229
00:12:19,679 --> 00:12:22,960
Speaker 3: now he is spending tens of millions of dollars a

230
00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:26,960
Speaker 3: month on advertising for the political campaign of Donald Trump.

231
00:12:27,320 --> 00:12:30,120
Speaker 2: Well, he's doing a bunch of different things. I mean,

232
00:12:30,120 --> 00:12:32,520
Speaker 2: he's they are spending a lot of money on advertising,

233
00:12:32,600 --> 00:12:36,920
Speaker 2: though though it's actually not the kind of traditional pack

234
00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:41,040
Speaker 2: spending normal packs, right, This kind of pack anyway, tends

235
00:12:41,040 --> 00:12:44,480
Speaker 2: to buy a lot of media, and in terms of

236
00:12:44,480 --> 00:12:47,560
Speaker 2: like TV ads and so on, Elon's pack has bought

237
00:12:47,559 --> 00:12:50,719
Speaker 2: some TV ads, but what they are doing more of

238
00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:53,280
Speaker 2: is kind of more traditional, and we get into this

239
00:12:53,320 --> 00:12:57,760
Speaker 2: in the podcast traditional political campaigning, so grassroots organizing. They've

240
00:12:57,800 --> 00:12:59,760
Speaker 2: hired a lot of canvassers who are going door to door,

241
00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:02,839
Speaker 2: They're sending out mailers. There are some digital ads, but

242
00:13:02,920 --> 00:13:03,480
Speaker 2: again it's.

243
00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:04,480
Speaker 3: It's doing raffles.

244
00:13:04,559 --> 00:13:09,400
Speaker 2: It's actually much more in keeping with Elon Musk's conception

245
00:13:09,480 --> 00:13:11,559
Speaker 2: of how marketing should work, and even in.

246
00:13:11,480 --> 00:13:14,840
Speaker 3: This a little bit more sort of like gorilla marketing.

247
00:13:14,679 --> 00:13:16,640
Speaker 2: Well, you know, word of mouth marketing. Even in this,

248
00:13:16,640 --> 00:13:21,160
Speaker 2: this this petition effort right has some viral marketing components. Bacon,

249
00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:24,000
Speaker 2: I don't know that that it's really working out. And

250
00:13:24,040 --> 00:13:27,640
Speaker 2: I think I think his decision to kind of up

251
00:13:27,800 --> 00:13:30,560
Speaker 2: the amount of money so he increased it from forty

252
00:13:30,559 --> 00:13:32,680
Speaker 2: seven dollars to one hundred dollars, that was like a

253
00:13:32,720 --> 00:13:36,079
Speaker 2: limited time offer, and then this million dollar sweepstakes thing.

254
00:13:36,360 --> 00:13:38,440
Speaker 3: I'm holding out ten million.

255
00:13:38,679 --> 00:13:41,880
Speaker 2: I think it shows that they're not getting as many

256
00:13:41,920 --> 00:13:44,480
Speaker 2: signatures as he expected. That Elon Musk, you know, he

257
00:13:44,520 --> 00:13:46,720
Speaker 2: has this giant Twitter following right like to two hundred

258
00:13:46,760 --> 00:13:49,280
Speaker 2: million people, but of course, like a lot of those

259
00:13:49,320 --> 00:13:53,480
Speaker 2: people are like crypto bros in like Macedonia or like whatever,

260
00:13:53,559 --> 00:13:55,839
Speaker 2: like people who are not in the United States. I

261
00:13:55,840 --> 00:13:57,800
Speaker 2: don't know why I picked on Macedonia, but like, there

262
00:13:57,840 --> 00:13:59,000
Speaker 2: are a lot of people who are not in the

263
00:13:59,080 --> 00:14:01,280
Speaker 2: United States, and a lot of people are not yet

264
00:14:01,280 --> 00:14:05,640
Speaker 2: eighteen not not necessarily two hundred million high propensity voters

265
00:14:05,679 --> 00:14:06,520
Speaker 2: in swing states.

266
00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:09,400
Speaker 3: But boy, if this thing we're being held in Macedonia trump.

267
00:14:11,440 --> 00:14:11,760
Speaker 4: All right?

268
00:14:11,800 --> 00:14:14,880
Speaker 3: Max, tell us again how many episodes are there of

269
00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:19,560
Speaker 3: Citizen one? And the first one airs this afternoon, so

270
00:14:19,600 --> 00:14:19,960
Speaker 3: we have.

271
00:14:19,960 --> 00:14:24,280
Speaker 2: Three episodes coming. The first one airs today. You're going

272
00:14:24,320 --> 00:14:26,479
Speaker 2: to hear an excerpt at the end of this podcast,

273
00:14:26,560 --> 00:14:29,320
Speaker 2: and if you're a Bloomberg subscriber, you can listen to

274
00:14:29,400 --> 00:14:32,920
Speaker 2: the whole thing. Regular non subscribers will be able to

275
00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:35,480
Speaker 2: listen to it on Friday. We'll have another episode for

276
00:14:35,560 --> 00:14:38,800
Speaker 2: you the following week, and then after the election we

277
00:14:38,880 --> 00:14:40,000
Speaker 2: will tie it all together.

278
00:14:40,520 --> 00:14:43,680
Speaker 3: And if you sign up to you get a subscription

279
00:14:43,760 --> 00:14:46,560
Speaker 3: subscription just to listen to the pod to that series.

280
00:14:46,600 --> 00:14:49,160
Speaker 3: We will also put you in that million dollar raffle

281
00:14:49,240 --> 00:14:49,680
Speaker 3: now you.

282
00:14:49,600 --> 00:14:52,280
Speaker 2: Want to, but you will be able to read Bloomberg

283
00:14:52,320 --> 00:14:55,160
Speaker 2: dot Com an unlimited fashion which is better than it's

284
00:14:55,200 --> 00:14:56,520
Speaker 2: almost as good as the.

285
00:14:57,040 --> 00:15:00,480
Speaker 3: An option of perhaps winning a million dollars. Raffle, Max,

286
00:15:00,640 --> 00:15:03,400
Speaker 3: Thanks for joining, Thanks for having me, awesome Max. Let's

287
00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:18,680
Speaker 3: listen to that first excerpt now, my fellow Americans.

288
00:15:21,160 --> 00:15:26,480
Speaker 2: Mahallo. It's April twenty eleven, White House Correspondence Dinner in DC,

289
00:15:27,320 --> 00:15:30,640
Speaker 2: a giant annual party for politicians and the press Corps.

290
00:15:31,240 --> 00:15:36,720
Speaker 2: President Barack Obama on stage, roasting himself, his colleagues, the press,

291
00:15:37,280 --> 00:15:39,240
Speaker 2: and the odds celebrity.

292
00:15:39,520 --> 00:15:43,480
Speaker 7: Some of you heard, the State of Hawaii released my

293
00:15:43,560 --> 00:15:52,240
Speaker 7: official long form birth certificate. Anyway, Donald Trump, let's here

294
00:15:52,240 --> 00:15:54,360
Speaker 7: it tonight.

295
00:15:55,280 --> 00:15:57,600
Speaker 2: For months leading up to this, Donald Trump was going

296
00:15:57,600 --> 00:16:00,640
Speaker 2: on talk shows falsely claiming that Obama wasn't born in

297
00:16:00,680 --> 00:16:03,400
Speaker 2: the US, which, if that was true, would have made

298
00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:07,560
Speaker 2: him a wrongfully elected president. People believed it. The rumor

299
00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:10,480
Speaker 2: grew enough so that Obama had to weigh in.

300
00:16:10,920 --> 00:16:14,520
Speaker 8: But no one is happier, no one is prouder to

301
00:16:14,560 --> 00:16:19,760
Speaker 8: put this birth certificate matter to rest than the Donald. Obviously,

302
00:16:19,800 --> 00:16:23,359
Speaker 8: we all know about your credentials and breadth of experience.

303
00:16:26,200 --> 00:16:30,360
Speaker 8: Well seriously, just recently, in an episode of Celebrity Apprentice,

304
00:16:31,320 --> 00:16:37,080
Speaker 8: at the Steakhouse. The men's cooking team did not impress

305
00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:42,160
Speaker 8: the judges from Omaha Stakes. And you, mister Trump, recognized

306
00:16:42,200 --> 00:16:45,600
Speaker 8: that the real problem was a lack of leadership. And

307
00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:49,520
Speaker 8: so ultimately you didn't blame Little John or Meet Loaf.

308
00:16:51,640 --> 00:16:56,720
Speaker 7: You fired Gary Busick. And these are the kind of

309
00:16:56,720 --> 00:16:58,880
Speaker 7: decisions that would keep me up at night.

310
00:17:01,480 --> 00:17:05,200
Speaker 2: Omarosa Newman, she was actually also on the Apprentice, was

311
00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:08,960
Speaker 2: also at the Correspondence dinner that night. Later in a

312
00:17:08,960 --> 00:17:11,960
Speaker 2: PBS documentary, she said.

313
00:17:11,560 --> 00:17:14,280
Speaker 9: That just kept going and going, and he just kept

314
00:17:14,320 --> 00:17:19,520
Speaker 9: hammering him, and I thought, Oh, Barack Obama starting something

315
00:17:20,280 --> 00:17:22,280
Speaker 9: I don't know if he'll be able to finish.

316
00:17:22,840 --> 00:17:24,800
Speaker 2: Donald Trump went on to beat Hillary Clinton for the

317
00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:28,760
Speaker 2: job of president. He literally took over Obama's home and job.

318
00:17:29,280 --> 00:17:34,639
Speaker 1: Every critic, every detractor will have to bow down to

319
00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:40,440
Speaker 1: President Trump. It's everyone who's ever doubted Donald, whoever disagreed,

320
00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:45,560
Speaker 1: whoever challenged him. It is the ultimate revenge to become

321
00:17:46,359 --> 00:17:48,480
Speaker 1: the most powerful man in the universe.

322
00:17:51,119 --> 00:17:54,400
Speaker 2: Now fast forward a few more years. It's twenty twenty one.

323
00:17:54,840 --> 00:17:58,080
Speaker 2: Joe Biden's the president, and one afternoon on the White

324
00:17:58,119 --> 00:18:01,440
Speaker 2: House lawn, he signs an executive of Order saying that

325
00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:05,440
Speaker 2: by twenty thirty, half of all new cars sold would

326
00:18:05,480 --> 00:18:09,520
Speaker 2: be electric. It was a piece of Biden's big plan

327
00:18:09,640 --> 00:18:12,920
Speaker 2: to prioritize the climate. He wanted to make evs, that's

328
00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:17,000
Speaker 2: electric vehicles, by the way, a lot cheaper. This was

329
00:18:17,080 --> 00:18:21,000
Speaker 2: new Biden all in on EV's and the big automakers too.

330
00:18:21,840 --> 00:18:23,920
Speaker 3: We are the United States of America.

331
00:18:24,560 --> 00:18:29,600
Speaker 2: There's not a single solitary thing, nothing beyond our capacity

332
00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:32,400
Speaker 2: to get done. I want to thank the.

333
00:18:32,320 --> 00:18:35,480
Speaker 8: CEOs of the automobile companies, and I also want to

334
00:18:35,520 --> 00:18:37,360
Speaker 8: thank all the auto workers.

335
00:18:38,480 --> 00:18:40,919
Speaker 2: At the White House that day. Are members of Congress,

336
00:18:41,080 --> 00:18:44,280
Speaker 2: the UAW United Auto Workers, and a bunch of big

337
00:18:44,320 --> 00:18:47,520
Speaker 2: wigs from the Big three that's General Motors, Ford and

338
00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:52,560
Speaker 2: Stillantis better known as Chrysler. Right before putting pen to paper,

339
00:18:52,680 --> 00:18:55,360
Speaker 2: Biden invites his colleagues to come up and stand by

340
00:18:55,359 --> 00:19:00,480
Speaker 2: his side. Come on, let's that's the CEO culture. Let's

341
00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:01,920
Speaker 2: let the CEOs through too.

342
00:19:02,200 --> 00:19:04,800
Speaker 3: This is an executive or a strengthy in America's leadership

343
00:19:04,840 --> 00:19:07,840
Speaker 3: and clean cars and trucks. And again, let me start up.

344
00:19:07,800 --> 00:19:10,879
Speaker 2: By thanking the CEOs as well as the UAW A

345
00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:12,960
Speaker 2: program you all and why it's happened.

346
00:19:13,400 --> 00:19:14,600
Speaker 3: Thank you, thank you, thank you.

347
00:19:17,600 --> 00:19:20,440
Speaker 2: There is one guy who'd done more to make EVS

348
00:19:20,560 --> 00:19:23,760
Speaker 2: happen than anybody in the Big Three, who was missing

349
00:19:23,840 --> 00:19:27,320
Speaker 2: from the White House that day, noticeably so, but he

350
00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:35,720
Speaker 2: was watching. So on one hand, we've got Barack Obama

351
00:19:35,960 --> 00:19:39,560
Speaker 2: roasting Donald Trump and the fallout from that. On the other,

352
00:19:39,840 --> 00:19:45,359
Speaker 2: Joe Biden hyping up electric cars, separate events ten years apart.

353
00:19:45,640 --> 00:19:49,280
Speaker 2: What do they have to do with each other? I

354
00:19:49,320 --> 00:19:54,679
Speaker 2: think kind of a lot. I'm Max Chafkin, a reporter

355
00:19:54,720 --> 00:20:03,600
Speaker 2: with Bloomberg BusinessWeek. This is Citizen Elon. This is a

356
00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:06,880
Speaker 2: show about Elon Musk, someone I've spent almost twenty years

357
00:20:06,880 --> 00:20:11,400
Speaker 2: reporting on. For the longest time, Elon's been a champion

358
00:20:11,560 --> 00:20:16,840
Speaker 2: for electric cars, a champion for outer space, and as

359
00:20:16,920 --> 00:20:21,439
Speaker 2: of this summer, a champion for Donald Trump. The Elon

360
00:20:21,520 --> 00:20:25,840
Speaker 2: I've always known has been largely a political. Now. In

361
00:20:25,880 --> 00:20:28,040
Speaker 2: the weeks leading up to the twenty twenty four election,

362
00:20:28,640 --> 00:20:31,920
Speaker 2: Elon's funneled more than one hundred million dollars into getting

363
00:20:31,960 --> 00:20:36,000
Speaker 2: Donald Trump elected. What I'd really like to understand is

364
00:20:36,920 --> 00:20:41,800
Speaker 2: what happened. Why is Elon suddenly so committed to Trump winning?

365
00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:45,640
Speaker 2: And if it works, if he successfully gets Trump elected.

366
00:20:46,240 --> 00:20:49,800
Speaker 2: What's in that for him? The first time I interviewed

367
00:20:49,800 --> 00:20:53,159
Speaker 2: Elon Musk was in two thousand and six. Tesla was

368
00:20:53,200 --> 00:20:56,800
Speaker 2: just a startup. Today it's the most valuable car company

369
00:20:56,800 --> 00:21:00,760
Speaker 2: in the world. You talk to CEOs normally and they're scripted,

370
00:21:01,240 --> 00:21:05,800
Speaker 2: they talk in soundbites, and Elon is the opposite. He'll

371
00:21:05,840 --> 00:21:08,520
Speaker 2: say whatever he wants, whatever's on his mind.

372
00:21:09,280 --> 00:21:11,560
Speaker 6: It is a fixer opper of a planet. But eventually

373
00:21:11,560 --> 00:21:13,679
Speaker 6: you can transform Mars into an Earth like planet.

374
00:21:14,280 --> 00:21:15,440
Speaker 3: How would you do that?

375
00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:19,520
Speaker 6: You'd warm it up. The fast Way has dropped them

376
00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:22,120
Speaker 6: nuclear weapons over the polls. I actually have to say,

377
00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:25,200
Speaker 6: we have to keep it essays only questions.

378
00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:28,720
Speaker 2: Everyone was a slave everyone, well not everyone was a slave.

379
00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:31,720
Speaker 4: No, everyone was a slave. We are all decided from slaves,

380
00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:32,719
Speaker 4: all of us.

381
00:21:32,800 --> 00:21:34,720
Speaker 6: Yeah, just a question of when.

382
00:21:35,520 --> 00:21:39,840
Speaker 2: Of course, Elon could also be cold cruel. Looking back

383
00:21:39,880 --> 00:21:42,200
Speaker 2: on it now, I think maybe I was letting him

384
00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:45,720
Speaker 2: off too easily, paying attention to his achievements and ignoring

385
00:21:45,720 --> 00:21:50,359
Speaker 2: his bad behavior. In terms of politics, Elon's always been

386
00:21:50,440 --> 00:21:53,360
Speaker 2: kind of a chameleon. When George W. Bush was president,

387
00:21:53,520 --> 00:21:56,000
Speaker 2: Elon didn't have much to say about climate change. He

388
00:21:56,119 --> 00:21:59,960
Speaker 2: drove a Porsche. When Barack Obama was president, Elon became

389
00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:04,320
Speaker 2: a green capitalist, ecologically conscious. He wanted a blanket America

390
00:22:04,359 --> 00:22:08,120
Speaker 2: with solar panels. His take on Trump running matched most

391
00:22:08,119 --> 00:22:10,080
Speaker 2: Democrats and modern Republicans.

392
00:22:10,400 --> 00:22:13,560
Speaker 6: You know, hopefully Trump doesn't forget the nomination of you know,

393
00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:18,440
Speaker 6: the Republican Party. That's because I think that's, yeah, that

394
00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:19,200
Speaker 6: wouldn't be good.

395
00:22:19,760 --> 00:22:22,960
Speaker 2: And again, after twenty sixteen, Musk more or less got

396
00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:26,359
Speaker 2: on board with Trump, meetings with Steve Bannon, was on

397
00:22:26,440 --> 00:22:29,960
Speaker 2: advisory councils to the president. It was business as usual,

398
00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:34,720
Speaker 2: but then COVID came. It's something changed, especially after Biden

399
00:22:34,760 --> 00:22:35,480
Speaker 2: became president.

400
00:22:36,200 --> 00:22:38,200
Speaker 5: You have to remember that, like you know, Elon Musk

401
00:22:38,280 --> 00:22:41,720
Speaker 5: is a guy who can't get enough of the dopamine

402
00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:44,560
Speaker 5: feedback of people and crowds and adulation.

403
00:22:45,280 --> 00:22:48,520
Speaker 2: Dana Hall is another reporter here at Bloomberg. She also

404
00:22:48,560 --> 00:22:49,800
Speaker 2: covers Elon Musk.

405
00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:52,840
Speaker 5: And during the pandemic, we were all locked down in

406
00:22:52,880 --> 00:22:57,280
Speaker 5: our houses, and he was incredibly angry that Tesla's factory

407
00:22:57,280 --> 00:23:01,080
Speaker 5: in California was shut down because of COVID restrictions.

408
00:23:01,640 --> 00:23:05,200
Speaker 2: On an erning's call talking to investors, Elon called stay

409
00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:08,720
Speaker 2: at home orders in Alameda County, where Tesla's factories were based.

410
00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:13,080
Speaker 2: Fascist quote, this is not democratic, this is not freedom.

411
00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:15,240
Speaker 2: Give people back their goddamn freedom.

412
00:23:15,760 --> 00:23:18,200
Speaker 5: And then you started seeing more tweets that were kind

413
00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:21,879
Speaker 5: of questioning, you know, the efficacy of vaccines, and just

414
00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:23,720
Speaker 5: like a little bit more COVID denihilism.

415
00:23:23,800 --> 00:23:26,000
Speaker 2: And then Danna said, by this point it was just

416
00:23:26,040 --> 00:23:29,720
Speaker 2: a hop, skip and a jump to much fringier conspiracy theories.

417
00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:33,119
Speaker 2: And then there was something else that happened during COVID,

418
00:23:33,520 --> 00:23:34,240
Speaker 2: something huge.

419
00:23:34,359 --> 00:23:36,840
Speaker 5: But at some point Elon Musk became the richest person

420
00:23:36,880 --> 00:23:38,720
Speaker 5: in the world. And I think that once you're the

421
00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:41,560
Speaker 5: richest person in the world, you are emboldened to do

422
00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:44,080
Speaker 5: things that maybe you weren't before.

423
00:23:51,160 --> 00:23:54,639
Speaker 2: Let's go back to that summit. August twenty twenty one.

424
00:23:54,760 --> 00:23:57,680
Speaker 2: A month after that, Elon's at a tech conference. He's

425
00:23:57,680 --> 00:24:01,040
Speaker 2: on stage in front of an audience, and that snub

426
00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:03,440
Speaker 2: that he felt. He's still thinking.

427
00:24:03,160 --> 00:24:06,159
Speaker 6: About it, you know, like Biden held this eb summit,

428
00:24:07,760 --> 00:24:12,760
Speaker 6: didn't invite Tesla invited jam Ford Chrysler.

429
00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:18,320
Speaker 4: And UW maybe summit on the White House. So you pissed.

430
00:24:18,400 --> 00:24:20,360
Speaker 6: So does has sound maybe.

431
00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:21,080
Speaker 4: A little biased?

432
00:24:22,600 --> 00:24:25,800
Speaker 2: Eight months go by and Elon sits down for another

433
00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:28,359
Speaker 2: interview with the guys running a club for Tesla owners

434
00:24:28,440 --> 00:24:32,280
Speaker 2: in Silicon Valley. It's called the Tesla Owners Club of

435
00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:36,639
Speaker 2: Silicon Valley. And remember that White House snub. Elon is

436
00:24:36,720 --> 00:24:38,200
Speaker 2: still pissed off about it.

437
00:24:38,800 --> 00:24:43,280
Speaker 6: Last year, President Biden held an eb summit where Tela

438
00:24:43,400 --> 00:24:46,760
Speaker 6: was explicitly not allowed to come. Now, Tela's made two

439
00:24:46,760 --> 00:24:49,560
Speaker 6: thirds of all electric vehicles in the United States. Deliberately

440
00:24:49,560 --> 00:24:51,560
Speaker 6: excluding us from an EV summit at the White House.

441
00:24:53,560 --> 00:24:54,639
Speaker 6: That tells you all you need to know.

442
00:24:55,200 --> 00:24:56,000
Speaker 7: It's insane.

443
00:24:56,240 --> 00:24:56,720
Speaker 6: Insane.

444
00:24:57,880 --> 00:25:01,320
Speaker 2: Fast forward another eighteen months, a year and a half later,

445
00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:04,879
Speaker 2: Elon's on stage at a New York Times event. He's

446
00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:07,800
Speaker 2: talking to the financial columnist Andrew Ross Sorkin.

447
00:25:08,119 --> 00:25:11,520
Speaker 1: You've been very frustrated with the Biden administration, feeling like

448
00:25:11,600 --> 00:25:14,680
Speaker 1: they did not respect what you've created.

449
00:25:15,160 --> 00:25:19,200
Speaker 2: Have you forgotten yet about that White House snub? No?

450
00:25:19,200 --> 00:25:20,000
Speaker 2: Neither has Elon.

451
00:25:20,760 --> 00:25:25,960
Speaker 4: Well, I mean, without any doing nothing to provoke the

452
00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:29,080
Speaker 4: Biden administration. They held an electric vehicle summit at the

453
00:25:29,080 --> 00:25:32,560
Speaker 4: White House and specifically refused to let Tesla attend. We've

454
00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:36,320
Speaker 4: done nothing to provoke them. Then Biden went on to

455
00:25:36,320 --> 00:25:37,360
Speaker 4: add insult injury.

456
00:25:37,880 --> 00:25:41,760
Speaker 2: Elon says President Biden even singled out General Motors for

457
00:25:41,840 --> 00:25:44,360
Speaker 2: having quote led the ev revolution.

458
00:25:44,600 --> 00:25:46,840
Speaker 4: This was in the same quarter that Tesla made three

459
00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:52,320
Speaker 4: hundred thousand electric cars and GM made twenty six. Does

460
00:25:52,320 --> 00:25:53,080
Speaker 4: that seem fatter you.

461
00:25:54,440 --> 00:25:57,919
Speaker 2: Tesla actually sold three hundred and eight thousand cars that quarter.

462
00:25:58,320 --> 00:26:01,000
Speaker 2: Elon's under selling the number. And he's also right about

463
00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:05,320
Speaker 2: GM that they really did just sell twenty six. Something

464
00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:08,119
Speaker 2: important to note here is that Elon has never been

465
00:26:08,160 --> 00:26:11,840
Speaker 2: a fan of labor unions. That's putting it mildly. Joe Biden,

466
00:26:11,880 --> 00:26:14,840
Speaker 2: on the other hand, the opposite. Biden loves labor unions.

467
00:26:14,840 --> 00:26:18,000
Speaker 2: He's called himself the quote most pro union president in history.

468
00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:20,720
Speaker 2: He made it a big part of his presidential campaign.

469
00:26:21,040 --> 00:26:24,600
Speaker 9: Can you give us any insight into why Tesla wasn't

470
00:26:24,640 --> 00:26:25,680
Speaker 9: included in this event?

471
00:26:26,040 --> 00:26:28,120
Speaker 2: Well, we of course welcome. This is from a White

472
00:26:28,119 --> 00:26:30,280
Speaker 2: House press briefing, So it's not because Tesla is a

473
00:26:30,320 --> 00:26:31,440
Speaker 2: non union shop.

474
00:26:31,880 --> 00:26:34,920
Speaker 1: Well, these are the three largest employers of the United

475
00:26:34,960 --> 00:26:35,560
Speaker 1: Auto Workers.

476
00:26:35,560 --> 00:26:36,880
Speaker 6: So let dry your own conclusion.

477
00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:43,040
Speaker 2: Go ahead. Translation, Yes, which classic politics, right, But Elon

478
00:26:43,119 --> 00:26:46,480
Speaker 2: didn't take it that way. Biden doesn't have to include

479
00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:50,920
Speaker 2: every automaker. It's not like Toyota or Volkswagen were there either,

480
00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:54,680
Speaker 2: But Elon's reaction was personal. He couldn't seem to move

481
00:26:54,720 --> 00:26:57,640
Speaker 2: beyond his own feelings to see this as anything other

482
00:26:57,720 --> 00:27:02,080
Speaker 2: than a grievous insult. On the one hand, it's surprising

483
00:27:02,119 --> 00:27:05,840
Speaker 2: to see a busy CEO fixate like this. Doesn't he

484
00:27:05,880 --> 00:27:09,800
Speaker 2: have bigger things to worry about? Who cares about GM

485
00:27:09,840 --> 00:27:13,919
Speaker 2: and Biden? On the other hand, this is vintage Elon.

486
00:27:17,800 --> 00:27:20,760
Speaker 2: Listen to Citizen Elon, a special series from the Elon Inc.

487
00:27:20,840 --> 00:27:21,359
Speaker 3: Podcast.

488
00:27:21,760 --> 00:27:25,760
Speaker 2: Bloomberg dot Com subscribers get every episode early. Subscribe today

489
00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:29,960
Speaker 2: at Bloomberg dot com, slash podcast offer, and follow Elon Inc.

490
00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:32,560
Speaker 2: On Apple Podcasts or wherever you like to listen.

491
00:27:41,160 --> 00:27:44,320
Speaker 3: This episode was produced by Stacy Walling. Naomi Shabin and

492
00:27:44,400 --> 00:27:48,440
Speaker 3: Rayhan Harmanci are senior editors. The idea for this very

493
00:27:48,480 --> 00:27:52,520
Speaker 3: show also came from ray Hunt. Blake Maples handles engineering,

494
00:27:52,520 --> 00:27:56,800
Speaker 3: and Dave Percell fact checks. Our supervising producer is Magnus Hendrickson.

495
00:27:57,320 --> 00:28:00,240
Speaker 3: The Elon Inc. Theme is written and performed by Akaka

496
00:28:00,320 --> 00:28:04,560
Speaker 3: Yasuzawa and Alex sugi Yura. Brendan Francis Newnham is our

497
00:28:04,600 --> 00:28:08,440
Speaker 3: executive producer, and Sage Bauman is the head of Bloomberg Podcasts.

498
00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:12,159
Speaker 3: A big thanks, as always to our supporter Joel Weber.

499
00:28:12,560 --> 00:28:15,639
Speaker 3: I'm David Papadopoulos. If you have a minute, rate and

500
00:28:15,680 --> 00:28:19,000
Speaker 3: review our show, it'll help other listeners find us. See

501
00:28:19,040 --> 00:28:19,640
Speaker 3: you next time.