Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk said on Friday that he discussed the idea of a ‘government deficiency commission’ with Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump in case the former President reclaims the White House. The CEO also expressed his willingness to be part of it.
What Happened: “I have discussed with Trump the idea of a government deficiency commission,” Musk told Lex Fridman in a podcast published on Friday. “And I would be willing to be part of that commission.”
While Musk did not detail the purpose of the commission, he hinted that it might be aimed at removing an “accumulation of laws and regulations.”
“That's (accumulation of regulations) like the hardening of the arteries. Or a way to think of it is being tied down by a million little strings like Gulliver. You can't move. And it's not like any one of those strings is the issue, it's that you've got a million of them,” Musk said.
The billionaire entrepreneur added that there needs to be a “garbage collection” system for regulations to prevent them from accumulating and preventing key projects such as building high-speed rail in the country.
Musk also said that the commission, if constituted, will face major resistance.
“You're attacking the matrix at that point. The matrix will fight back,” Musk said
Why It Matters: Musk officially endorsed Republican candidate Donald Trump in July after a shooting incident at a rally in Pennsylvania. Trump, however, is seeking the elimination of subsidies for electric vehicles.
“I will end the electric vehicle mandate on day one, thereby saving the auto industry from complete obliteration which is happening right now, and saving US customers thousands and thousands of dollars per car,” Trump said earlier last month at the fourth and final night of the Republic National Convention in Milwaukee.
However, Musk said during the company's second-quarter earnings in late July that the impact of the elimination of subsidies would only be slight for Tesla but devastating for its competitors. The elimination of EV subsidies would probably help Tesla in the long term, he added.
In May, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources, that Trump is considering tapping Musk as a policy advisor if he reclaims the white house in November’s election. While representatives of Musk and Trump did not respond to the report, some experts believe that Musk is hoping to have some influence on policy if Trump wins.
"It seems fair to think he (Musk) is hoping to have some influence on EV-related policy should he (Trump) win," David Barrett, CEO of EBC Financial Group, told Benzinga earlier this week.
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