Biden wishes Elon Musk ‘luck’ on trip to the moon after job cut remark
2022.06.03 19:21
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the monthly U.S. jobs report, at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center, in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, U.S., June 3, 2022. REUTERS/Tom Brenner
By Andrea Shalal and Trevor Hunnicutt
REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden, asked on Friday about Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk’s comment about having a “super bad feeling” about the economy, quipped that he wished Musk “lots of luck” on his “trip to the moon.”
Musk wrote in an email to executives that he had a “super bad feeling” about the economy and needed to cut about 10% of jobs at the electric carmaker, Reuters reported earlier on Friday.
Asked by Reuters about Musk’s comments, Biden was dismissive.
“While Elon Musk is talking about that, Ford is increasing their investment overwhelmingly,” Biden said. “Ford is increasing investment and building new electric vehicles. Six thousand new employees, union employees I might add, in the Midwest.” [nL1N2XP0UP]
He added: “So, you know, lots of luck on his trip to the moon.”
Musk replied on Twitter (NYSE:TWTR): “Thanks Mr President!” He included a link referencing NASA’s April 2021 award of a $2.9-billion contract to Musk’s space company SpaceX to build a spacecraft to bring astronauts to the moon.
Biden had just given a speech of his own touting higher-than-expected U.S. job growth in May and rebuffing criticism of his handling of inflation.
But he warned that job growth could slow in the coming months as the Federal Reserve raises interest rates to cool inflation. The president said that slower hiring represents a transition to stable growth rather than an omen for recession.
“We aren’t likely to see the kind of blockbuster job reports month after month like we had over this past year,” he said. “But that’s a good thing. That’s a sign of a healthy economy.”
