Elon Musk Claps Back After Gavin Newsom Shares Donald Trump's 'Drop To Your Knees And Beg' Post About Tesla CEO From 2022: 'You Never Get Off Your Knees'

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Inc. and SpaceX, has responded to a remark from Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-Calif.) with a sharp retort.

What Happened: Newsom, a Democrat, took to X to take a jab at Musk, referencing a 2022 post by former President Donald Trump on his social media platform Truth Social. Trump’s post suggested that Musk had sought his assistance for his subsidized projects.

Newsom wrote, “You bent the knee,” and attached a screenshot of Trump’s post. California Governor’s post came after Musk’s recent decision to relocate the headquarters of two of his companies from California to Texas.

Musk fired back at Newsom, saying, “You never get off your knees.”

In 2022, Trump heightened his attacks on Tesla CEO Elon Musk following Musk’s suggestion that the former president should retire from politics. Trump alleged that Musk had pursued government subsidies for projects like electric cars and rocketships, claiming Musk had once been a political supporter.

See Also: Elon Musk Stopped Paying His Social Security Taxes Just Four Minutes Into The Year — Here’s Why That’s A Problem For You

Why It Matters: Musk’s response comes on the heels of his decision to move the headquarters of both Tesla and SpaceX from California to Texas. This move was announced in a post on X on Tuesday, where Musk criticized Newsom for “attacking both families and companies.”

This is not the first time Musk has clashed with Newsom. In May, Musk criticized Newsom for his decision to eliminate 10,000 vacant state jobs as part of a larger strategy to reduce state spending by $32.8 billion over the next two fiscal years.

However, Musk’s relationship with California has not always been contentious. In 2023, he and Newsom announced that Tesla was moving its global engineering headquarters to Silicon Valley, with Newsom praising California as the home of the electric vehicle industry.

Musk’s recent endorsement of Trump and reported donations to a new super PAC called America PAC have also raised questions from investors and analysts, given Trump’s past criticism of Musk and the electric vehicle sector.

Read Next:

• Elon Musk’s SpaceX Fails To Deploy Starlink Satellites In Intended Orbit Owing To A Rocket Engine Issue, But Efforts Underway To Salvage Mission: ‘Unlike A Star Trek Episode…’

Image Via Shutterstock

This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Kaustubh Bagalkote