Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk was one of the people announced to be joining President Trump’s new economic advisory council, despite Musk claiming that the President “screwed” him after he joined two White House advisory councils in 2017.
Business Insider reports that President Trump recently announced the members of the Great American Economic Revival Industry Groups which included key business figures across 16 industries including agriculture, banking, energy, hospitality, retails, sports, and tech.
The White House said in a release: “These bipartisan groups of American leaders will work together with the White House to chart the path forward toward a future of unparalleled American prosperity.”
Notable members include Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, WWE CEO Vince McMahon, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, and SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
This isn’t Musk’s first time sitting on a council formed by President Trump, in 2017 Musk was part of two White House advisory councils, President Trump’s Strategic and Policy Forum and American Manufacturing Council, which he quit in protest over President Trump’s removal of the United States from the Paris Climate Accords.
Am departing presidential councils. Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 1, 2017
In an interview with Recode’s Kara Swisher for the Recode Decode podcast in November of 2018, Musk and Swisher discussed his time on the presidential councils. “I said you shouldn’t go ’cause he was gonna screw you, remember?” Swisher said during the podcast. “Well, you were right,” Musk responded.
In a speech to US governors in 2017, Musk stated: “If I stayed on the councils, it would be saying that wasn’t important, but I think it’s super important,” Musk said referring to the Paris agreement. “The country needs to keep its word. There’s just no way I could stay on after that.”
Musk has made it clear that he is an opponent of President Trump, on November 4, 2016, just before election day, Musk appeared on CNBC’s Squawk Alley in which he stated that President Trump “doesn’t seem to have the sort of character that reflects well on the United States. I don’t know… no.”
When asked on Twitter if he supported President Trump, Musk very simply stated “no.”
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 9, 2016
Yet now, during the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic, Musk seems happy to join yet another White House council, despite stating that the President “screwed” him before. The council is focused on the re-opening of the economy as only essential businesses continue to operate during the lockdown.
Notably, Musk’s auto manufacturer Tesla is not considered an essential business, despite its attempt to continue production after lockdown had been initiated in Fremont where 10,000 Tesla employees work production approximately 415,000 vehicles annually.
Breitbart News reported in March that the Alameda County sheriff’s office had ordered Musk to shut down Tesla’s operations in the county, with a spokesperson stating: “Tesla is not an essential business as defined in the Alameda County Health Order. Tesla can maintain minimum basic operations per the Alameda County Health Order.” The order states that non-essential businesses can only maintain minimum basic operations such as maintaining inventory value, ensuring security and processing payroll. Violations could result in a fine, imprisonment, or both.
Musk has also gone to great lengths to question just how dangerous the Wuhan coronavirus is, at one point falsely claiming that children are “essentially immune” to the virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has stated that it is not true that children are immune to the virus. While adults are at a higher risk of infection, children can still get sick with the coronavirus. Musk’s tweet appears to be extremely similar to the types of tweets that Twitter promised to crack down on in an effort to stop the spread of misinformation relating to the virus.
Breitbart News will continue to report on the Great American Economic Revival Industry Groups and Musk’s contributions.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.