Courtesy of Tesla, Inc.
Former U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris has admitted that not inviting Tesla CEO Elon Musk to the Biden administration’s 2021 EV Summit was a major error. Speaking with Fortune earlier this week, Harris called the decision a “big mistake” and reflected on its lasting political and cultural consequences.
“A President of the United States, I believe, has to put aside political loyalties when they get in the way of what should be a source of pride for us as Americans,” Harris said. “I don’t know Elon Musk, but I have to assume that was something that hit him hard and had an impact on his perspective.”
The controversial 2021 EV summit, held at the White House, excluded Musk and Tesla despite the company’s position as the global leader in electric vehicles at the time. The event instead focused on unionized automakers like Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis — companies that were only beginning their EV transitions while Tesla was delivering hundreds of thousands of fully electric vehicles each quarter. The exclusion sparked criticism from Musk, who accused the administration of ignoring Tesla’s pivotal role in accelerating EV adoption.
The decision to exclude Tesla was driven by the White House’s emphasis on unionized labor, a core part of President Biden’s political base. In her memoir 107 Days, Harris suggested that sidelining Musk may have been a turning point in his political alignment. Musk, who was largely apolitical at the time, has since become an outspoken critic of Democrats and publicly supported Republicans and Donald Trump in the 2024 election.
While Tesla’s EV market share has faced growing competition from legacy automakers and Chinese manufacturers, the company remains a global powerhouse. Tesla delivered a record 497,099 vehicles in Q3 2025 and continues to carve a pioneering lead in autonomous driving and robotics innovation. Musk, meanwhile, has refocused his attention on Tesla, SpaceX, xAI, and his other ventures following a falling out with Trump earlier this year.
Harris’s comments mark one of the first public acknowledgments from a senior Biden administration official that Tesla’s exclusion from early policy discussions may have been politically short-sighted — especially given the company’s continued dominance in the EV sector.
