YouTuber Adin Ross on Monday streamed an interview with Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump and gifted him a Tesla Cybertruck wrapped with an image of him standing with his fist raised after the shooting incident at his rally in Pennsylvania last month.
What Happened: “That’s an Elon. That is beautiful,” Trump said when he saw the Cybertruck. The stainless steel truck was wrapped in an image of Trump and the American flag and features the words “Make America Great Again” on the hood.
Talking about Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk during the stream, Trump said, “Elon is a great guy, yeah. He’s really a fantastic person.” Trump also added that the billionaire entrepreneur is “truly a genius” with his work in underground tunnels aimed at resolving traffic and reusable rockets.
Trump, however, also slammed EVs in the interview, alleging that electric vehicles don’t travel very far, have a high price point, and rely heavily on China for manufacturing. The Democratic Party, he said, is trying to implement an “EV mandate,” taking the choice of buying gas vehicles or hybrids away from American consumers.
Complete electrification, Trump said, “is essentially never going to work.”
“In my opinion, it’ll never work because you’re always going to have a weight problem. You’re always going to have- it’s never going to be the same kind of a thing where you can drive for two days without stopping. It’s just not going to happen,” Trump said.
Several figures from the Democratic Party, including President Joe Biden and Transporation Secretary Pete Buttigieg have previously refuted this claim from Republicans, reiterating that their party is not mandating EVs but only supporting the industry in a bid to offer the choice for customers to buy an EV if they want to.
Why It Matters: Musk officially endorsed Trump in July after the shooting incident at a rally in Pennsylvania. The former President, however, is seeking the elimination of subsidies for electric vehicles.
But Musk said during the company's second-quarter earnings in late July that the impact of the elimination of subsidies would only be limited for Tesla but “devastating” for its competitors. The elimination of EV subsidies would probably help Tesla in the long term, he added.
Last week, Musk told Lex Fridman in a podcast published on Friday, that he discussed the idea of a "government deficiency commission" with Trump in case the former president reclaims the White House. The CEO also expressed his willingness to be a part of it.
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 prevents key development projects.
In his first joint rally with his vice presidential pick JD Vance in Atlanta on Saturday, Trump also softened his criticism for EVs, terming them as “fantastic” and said he is all for electric cars.
“I'm for electric cars. I have to be, you know, because Elon endorsed me very strongly. So I have no choice," Trump said.
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