Democrat President Joe Biden responded to Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s “super bad feeling” about the U.S. economy on Friday by wishing Musk well on SpaceX’s, trip to the moon.
Musk’s grim view of the economy led him to order executives at his company to “pause all hiring worldwide,” which comes after he told employees who want to work remotely instead of the office that they should “pretend to work somewhere else.”
“The United States economy shrank at a 1.5% annualized rate in the first quarter of 2022, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, which associates recessions with two consecutive quarters of negative growth,” The Daily Wire reported, noting that the economy has been troubled “by numerous phenomena — including persistent inflation, high gas prices, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” as well as supply chain issues.
A reporter asked Biden about Musk’s comments on Friday at the conclusion of a press conference on the May Jobs report.
“Mr. President, Elon Musk has asked — has said that he has a ‘super bad feeling’ about the U.S. economy. He is laying off 10 percent of his workforce,” the reporter said. “What do you say to Elon Musk about his feeling about the economy? Jamie Dimon has said similar things.”
“Well, let me tell you. While Elon Musk is talking about that, Ford is increasing their investment overwhelmingly. I think Ford is increasing the investment in building new electric vehicles: 6,000 new employees — union employees, I might add — in the Midwest,” Biden said. “The former Chrysler Corporation, Stellantis, they’re also making similar investments in electric vehicles.”
“So, you know, lots of luck on his trip to the Moon,” Biden mocked. “I mean, I don’t — I mean, you know.”
#BREAKING: President Biden responds to Elon Musk's "super bad feeling about" the US economy and wants to cut 10% of workforce: "Lots of luck on his trip to the moon." pic.twitter.com/QEYnPI6hlf
— Forbes (@Forbes) June 3, 2022
Musk quickly responded to Biden by writing on Twitter, “Thanks Mr. President!”
Musk included a link to a statement from NASA about how the agency selected Musk’s SpaceX to “continue development of the first commercial human lander that will safely carry the next two American astronauts to the lunar surface” as part of the agency’s Artemis program.
“The agency’s powerful Space Launch System rocket will launch four astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft for their multi-day journey to lunar orbit,” the statement said. “There, two crew members will transfer to the SpaceX human landing system (HLS) for the final leg of their journey to the surface of the Moon. After approximately a week exploring the surface, they will board the lander for their short trip back to orbit where they will return to Orion and their colleagues before heading back to Earth. The firm-fixed price, milestone-based contract total award value is $2.89 billion.”