Over the weekend, Elon Musk supported Donald Trump for president in 2024. Some people who are passionate about Tesla and electric vehicles (EVs) are referring to anti-EV legislation suggested by Trump's newly nominated Vice Presidential candidate in the previous year.
In response to Musk's endorsement of the former president on Saturday, Trump announced on Monday that Senator JD Vance (R-Ohio) will be his running mate. Vance sponsored the Drive American Act in the previous year, a plan to replace the $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit with a subsidy of the same amount for gas vehicles manufactured in the United States. Some Tesla and electric vehicle community members are now pointing out this fact.
“Right now, the official policy of the Biden administration is to spend billions of dollars on subsidies for electric vehicles made overseas. If we’re subsidizing anything, it ought to be Ohio workers – not the green energy daydreams that are offshoring their jobs to China. We can secure a bright future for American autoworkers by passing this legislation and reversing the misguided policies of the Biden administration,” Senator Vance wrote in the proposal, as per Teslarati.
In addition, Vance penned an opinion post just one week before the passage of the Drive American Act, in which he urged the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, which was on strike at the time, to steer clear of what he referred to as "the Biden administration's unjust transition to electric vehicles."
“These are the facts: China dominates the global supply chain for electric vehicles — especially for critical minerals and batteries,” Vance wrote in the op-ed.
“While an electric vehicle may bear the logo of Ford, Chevy, or Chrysler, its core components were probably made in China with Chinese labor and Chinese materials. Two of the Big Three automakers are losing massive amounts of money on electric vehicles. Ford, for example, loses $32,000 on every EV they sell. These losses lead to lower wages for workers, fewer auto jobs being available, and higher prices for consumers,” Vance went on.
A month ago, President Trump told those who attended his rally that he was a "big fan of electric cars" and a "big fan of Elon Musk," despite previously expressing some anti-electric vehicle sentiments.
During March, Vance stated on X that he was entirely in agreement with Trump's earlier assertion that the United States automobile sector would be in for an economic "bloodbath" if Biden went down the route he was currently on. He also mentioned that many media sources placed an excessive amount of emphasis on the word.
Additionally, Musk congratulated Vance on his appointment to the Republican ticket on Monday, stating that Trump's decision to choose him was an "excellent decision."