Donald Trump has been unsubtle in his condemnations of electric vehicles. After taking steps to stymie the industry during his presidency, the Republican added EVs to his party’s list of culture war villains after leaving the White House.
Last fall, for example, Trump told an audience that people who own electric cars become “somewhat schizophrenic“ because they can only drive their cars for 10 minutes. Around the same time, he insisted that gas-powered cars are better for the environment than EVs. (They’re not.) In December, the GOP candidate added that electric vehicles don’t “go far” and have to be recharged “every two minutes.”
As recently as June, a Washington Post report noted that the Republican nominee “has made bashing EVs a cornerstone of his campaign.”
And yet, there’s been an unmistakable shift of late in the former president’s posture. As a recent New York Times report summarized:
Former President Donald J. Trump has spent years ridiculing electric vehicles, saying they don’t go far, are too expensive and are made in China. He has promised to end federal support for electric vehicles, a central feature of President Biden’s strategy to cut the carbon dioxide that is heating the planet. But in recent months, Mr. Trump has been saying some nice things about E.V.s. While he still throws some shade on electric vehicles, in the same breath he also tells crowds that he likes them.
At an event in Michigan two weeks ago, for example, the Republican said, “I’m constantly talking about electric vehicles but I don’t mean I’m against them. I’m totally for them.” He added that he’s driven EVs “and they are incredible.”Saturday night in Atlanta, Trump went even further, and said the quiet part loud. “I’m for electric cars,” the former president said in a matter-of-fact sort of way. “I have to be, you know, because [Tesla’s Elon Musk] endorsed me very strongly. So, I have no choice.”
I’m reminded anew of a recent Politico report with a memorable headline: “Trump keeps flip-flopping his policy positions after meeting with rich people.”
As we discussed last week, the list of such incidents keeps growing. It includes TikTok, Anheuser-Busch and the cryptocurrency industry, but Trump’s newfound praise for electric vehicles — he has “no choice” because of Musk — is perhaps the most extraordinary because of the time and effort he invested into telling American consumers not to buy EVs.
That is, until he decided they’re “incredible.”
Trump pointed to Musk’s endorsement, but it might not be the only consideration. The New York Times recently reported that Musk was “likely” to offer “significant” support for a new pro-Trump super PAC created by Musk’s closest friends. The Wall Street Journal had a related report, noting that the conspiratorial billionaire is prepared to spend “around $45 million a month” in the hopes of putting the Republican back in power. Musk later denied the accuracy of the reporting, though Trump personally suggested that Musk is, in fact, investing $45 million a month in support of his candidacy. The Republican added soon after that he intends to “make life good” for Musk and people like him in a prospective second term. For his part, CNBC reported late last week that the conspiratorial billionaire and his allies are “collecting data in more than a half-dozen swing states” in the hopes of giving Trump a boost. An NBC News report added that a Musk-backed political action committee “has been acquiring detailed voter information from those living in Michigan and other battleground states after people submit their personal data through a section on the PAC’s website that says ‘register to vote.’” The tactics are now under investigation from the Michigan secretary of state’s office and North Carolina’s state attorney general’s office. Watch this space.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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