"Lots of luck on his trip to the moon": Biden responds to Elon Musk's economic doubts

President Biden on Friday responded to Elon Musk's recent doubts about the U.S. economy, saying he wished the Tesla CEO "lots of luck on his trip to the moon."

According to Reuters, Musk said in an email to Tesla executives Thursday he has a "super bad feeling" about the economy and he said in an email to employees Friday that he'll be cutting about 10% of workers. He's not alone in his views about the economy. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon warned that an economic "hurricane" is on its way while at a financial conference Wednesday.

Speaking Friday morning about May's jobs report, Mr. Biden said the U.S. achieved "the most robust recovery in modern history" with a total of 8.7 million new jobs since he took office. For May, the unemployment rate stayed steady at 3.6%, which was on par with the last two months and the lowest level it's been during the pandemic.

When the president was asked about Musk's and Dimon's views, he noted Ford Motor Company's increasing investment in employees and electric vehicles.

"While Elon Musk is talking about that, Ford is increasing their investment overwhelmingly," Mr. Biden said. "I think Ford is increasing investment in building new electric vehicles, 6,000 new employees, union employees I might add, in the Midwest."

The president also boasted about an electric vehicle investment from Chrysler's parent company, Stellantis.

"Intel is adding 20,000 new jobs for making computer chips," he said. "So, you know, lots of luck on his trip to the moon."

Musk tweeted, "Thanks Mr. President!" in response to Mr. Biden. 

Irina Ivanova contributed reporting.

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• Elon Musk
• Joe Biden
• Unemployment