General Motors CEO Mary Barra revealed she privately corrected President Biden after a 2021 White House event that excluded Tesla. Barra told Biden that Tesla deserved recognition for its EV advancements, a sentiment echoed by Kamala Harris who later acknowledged the snub. This exclusion fueled a rift between Biden and Elon Musk, impacting political alliances and EV policy debates.

General Motors CEO Mary Barra revealed Wednesday that she privately corrected then-President Joe Biden after a controversial 2021 White House event that excluded Tesla and Elon Musk, telling him that Tesla deserved recognition for advancing electric vehicles in America.Speaking at The New York Times DealBook Summit, Barra disclosed that when Biden credited her with leading the EV revolution, she responded: “Actually, I think a lot of that credit goes to Elon and Tesla.” The GM chief had previously stated she hadn’t given much thought to the May 2021 White House EV summit snub, even as her company received presidential praise.The exclusion of Tesla—the world’s largest EV producer—from the summit became a pivotal moment that contributed to a massive rift between Biden and Musk, who later campaigned for Donald Trump and briefly served as a key White House advisor earlier this year.

Tesla snub sparked years-long political fallout

Musk made no secret of his anger, writing in December 2021 that the White House gave Tesla “the cold shoulder” while crediting GM with leading the electric car revolution “in the same quarter that they delivered 26 electric cars (not a typo) and Tesla delivered 300 thousand.” Even Vice President Kamala Harris later acknowledged the mistake, writing in her campaign book: “If you are convening the nation’s manufacturers of electric vehicles and the biggest player in the field is not there, it simply doesn’t make sense.”

Trump administration reverses EV policy direction

The political landscape has shifted dramatically since 2021. Recent tensions between Trump and Musk erupted over Trump’s “Big, Beautiful Bill,” with the president calling Musk “crazy” and threatening to cut government contracts with his companies after Musk criticized the legislation’s impact on federal deficits.The dispute centered on the bill’s elimination of the $7,500 EV tax credit, though Musk has maintained he supports removing the subsidies, stating “take away the subsidies. It will only help Tesla.” However, analysts now suggest that Tesla’s recent sales troubles mean the company “needs all the demand help it can get.”