Kamala Harris says Biden’s White House snub of Elon Musk was a ‘big mistake’

The former vice president also shared what policy mistakes the Biden administration made that could’ve made a difference in the 2024 election.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris is continuing to reflect on her time in the Biden administration, revealing that former President Joe Biden made a “big mistake” by snubbing Tesla billionaire and major Trump donor, Elon Musk.

In August 2021, the Biden administration hosted an event on electric vehicles and invited executives of major automakers to the White House. Despite Tesla being an American automaker and the largest maker of EVs, Musk did not receive an invitation.

At the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit in Washington, D.C. last week, Harris shared that she believed the snubbing of Musk was a missed opportunity. Reflecting on her thoughts in her new memoir “107 Days,” Harris said, “I write in the book that I thought it was a big mistake to not invite Elon Musk when we did a big EV event. I mean, here he is, the major American manufacturer of extraordinary innovation in this space.”

At the time, the Tesla CEO expressed his displeasure, tweeting, “Yeah, seems odd that Tesla wasn’t invited.”

It is believed that Tesla was not invited because President Biden, a strong proponent of unions, has also welcomed the United Auto Workers, which had been unsuccessful at unionzing Tesla’s plants.

Harris told Fortune that U.S. presidents should “put aside political loyalties” to embrace technological innovation, which is a source of pride for America.

“So, I thought that was a mistake, and I don’t know Elon Musk, but I have to assume that that was something that hit him hard and had an impact on his perspective,” the former vice president shared.

Musk, who continued to criticize the Biden administration over the years, notably became a major donor for Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign and the Republican Party. The Tesla CEO donated a whopping $300 million.

Elon Musk went on to become an advisor for the second Trump administration, heading up their Department of Government Efficiency, also known as DOGE. However, Musk eventually left his post in the White House after major protests against major cuts to federal government spending and its workforce–and a very public spat with Trump over the president’s “One, Big, Beautiful Bill,” which, ironically, eliminated Biden-era tax credits for EVs.

As theGrio previously reported, Musk said Trump would not have won the 2024 election against Kamala Harris had it not been for his financial support.

The snubbing of Musk wasn’t the only move by the Biden administration that Harris criticized. The former vice president said they should have also focused more on economic policies like paid family leave and affordable child care.

“When we made the decision as an administration to put the infrastructure bill and the CHIPS Act first, I actually think that was a mistake,” said Harris. “Very important work, no question, but we did that before putting the immediate needs ahead of anything else.”

She continued, “If we can’t meet the basic needs of the people, there will be this backlash, which is going to resonate and sound like it is about ‘blame the rich. But really, I think at its core, it’s about, ‘we need help for our basic needs, and please prioritize those needs.‘”