The curious problem of Elon Musk

Presented by Elected Officials to Protect America - Code Blue: Inside the Golden State political arena

Jul 30, 2024 View in browser   By Lara Korte and Dustin Gardiner Presented by Elected Officials to Protect America - Code Blue Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks before unveiling the Model Y at Tesla's design studio March 14, 2019, in Hawthorne, California. | Jae C. Hong/AP THE BUZZ: TOEING THE LINE — One of California’s biggest employers is becoming an even bigger headache for California Democrats. A terse exchange between Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Gov. Gavin Newsom over a deepfake political ad highlights a marked change in how state politicians are approaching the bombastic executive, who has long clashed with California leaders but in recent months has invited more scrutiny over his increasingly partisan bent. Musk employs tens of thousands of Californians at SpaceX and X — a leverage point he often uses in political arguments. While the world’s richest man has never shied away from saying exactly how he feels about California's taxes or Covid-19 precautions, Musk has veered away from business matters as he embraces hardline Republican talking points and, most recently, former President Donald Trump.  It creates a particularly awkward situation for Newsom, who has held up the electric car manufacturer — and even Musk himself — as evidence of California’s technological and climate leadership. But the governor has also taken up the mantle of campaigning for national Democrats, who in recent weeks have run ads attacking Musk and other Trump-backing billionaires. Newsom on Sunday sharply criticized an AI-altered campaign video that Musk had retweeted that had manipulated the voice of Vice President Kamala Harris. The governor vowed to make such ads illegal — a threat Musk dismissed in typical schoolboy fashion. “I checked with renowned world authority, Professor Suggon Deeznutz, and he said parody is legal in America,” he replied on X. It’s unusual to see a state leader directly targeting such an important employer, but between his public support of Trump and broadsides against California Democrats, Musk appears to have transcended business executive status. Earlier this month, Musk vowed to move SpaceX and X to Texas, saying he was outraged over Newsom’s signing of a bill to protect the privacy of LGBTQ youth. He also took to X to criticize the bill, going so far as to call one of the authors a “pedophile apologist.” Despite that announcement, SpaceX on Sunday said it would move its splashdowns to the waters off the California coast. Last year, after Musk had moved Tesla's corporate headquarters from California to Texas, he shifted the company's global engineering headquarters back to Palo Alto. Lenny Mendonca, Newsom’s former chief economic and business adviser, said the governor is justified in going after Musk, and that it doesn’t do any harm to his businesses. "It's like he's a surrogate for Trump,” he said of Musk. “And you just can't let that stuff go unchallenged.” GOOD MORNING. Happy Tuesday. Thanks for waking up with Playbook. You can text us at ‪916-562-0685‬‪ — save it as “CA Playbook” in your contacts. Or drop us a line at lkorte@politico.com and dgardiner@politico.com, or on X — @DustinGardiner and @Lara_Korte. WHERE’S GAVIN? In Kern County for a Borel Fire site visit.   A message from Elected Officials to Protect America - Code Blue: Californians are counting on legislators to protect communities from deadly fossil fuel pollution and hold the oil industry accountable. California legislators: pass the Make Polluters Pay Package to hold the fossil fuel industry accountable, protect tax dollars, and public health. Pass AB 1866: The Idle Well Cleanup Bill, AB 2716: Low Producing Well Accountability Act, and AB 3233:Local Environmental Choice and Safety Act. Learn more.   ON THE HILL Rep. Lou Correa in 2014. | AP TRUMP SHOOTING INQUIRY — California’s Democratic Rep. Lou Correa was tapped to serve on a Bipartisan Task Force to Investigate the Attempted Assassination of Donald Trump — the only California representative on the 13-member panel. In a statement, Correa said he visited the Butler, Pennsylvania site where the shooting occurred with his colleagues, and that it appeared “there were a number of security lapses” and it “may not have been the first major security lapse for a national political candidate.” “This is unacceptable,” Correa said in a statement. “I’m committed to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to get to the bottom of what actually happened that day, and develop policy solutions to ensure we never face a close call like that again.” — Mia McCarthy   Live briefings, policy trackers, and procedural, industry, and people intelligence from POLITICO Pro Analysis gives you the insights you need to focus your policy strategy this election cycle. Secure your seat.      CAMPAIGN YEAR Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., speaks during a Democratic presidential primary debate, Nov. 20, 2019, in Atlanta. | John Bazemore/AP BURDENED BY WHAT HAS BEEN — Kamala Harris launched her first presidential campaign five years ago to great expectations, our Christopher Cadelago writes. She had a growing profile as a no-nonsense interrogator in the Senate, heavyweight support from Hollywood to Wall Street and the raw talent of a once-in-a-generation leader. Then she crumbled. Her admirers contend that the Kamala Harris of 2024 is light-years better than the Harris of 2019. But the searing experience remains an indelible stain on her image, even after the 59-year-old Democrat spent the last half-decade steadily improving on the biggest stage imaginable. To win the 100-day sprint to Election Day, she’ll need to bury the ghosts of that first bid. Read the full analysis here. SO MUCH FOR UNITY  — Rep. Mike Garcia has harsh words to describe Harris: “She’s not very intelligent, she’s not very well-spoken.” Garcia made the statement during an interview on The Morning Answer, a conservative radio show, last week. It was his first public commentary on Harris since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race. Just days before the interview, Garcia wrote a column calling for bipartisan unity in the wake of the assassination attempt on Trump. But the Republican lawmaker struck a different tone during his interview — playing along when host Grant Stinchfield asked if he believed the conspiracy theory that Biden used a body double to deliver a recent speech. “I don’t know, to be honest,” Garcia said with a laugh. But Garcia, who faces a tough reelection race for his House seat in the Santa Clarita area, said Republicans shouldn’t write off Harris as an opponent. “The reality is they’re raising a lot of money, and she is more coherent and probably a more viable candidate than Biden,” he said.   A message from Elected Officials to Protect America - Code Blue:   CLIMATE AND ENERGY CALIFORNIA CRED — National environmental groups have been quick to praise Kamala Harris' record of addressing pollution in overburdened communities. But environmental justice groups from her own home state have mostly stayed quiet on Harris a week into her presidential campaign. Read more on why in last night's California Climate. Top Talkers GETTING SPECIFIC: Harris’ broad campaign pledge to “restore reproductive freedom” now has a very specific definition: restoring Roe v. Wade, a Harris aide clarified to POLITICO’s Megan Messerly and Alice Miranda Ollstein yesterday. Many abortion-rights groups backing Harris’ campaign had hoped the vice president would go further on the issue than Biden, and some said they would continue pushing for federal abortion protections beyond Roe v. Wade. WHITE BOY SUMMER: Hill Democrats are feeling pretty jazzed about their pal Sen. Mark Kelly, a potential vice presidential pick many think could shore up Harris’ weaknesses on immigration and border policy. His past experience as a former Navy pivot and astronaut doesn’t hurt, either. But picking Kelly means opening up a purple Senate seat in 2026, which is a tough gamble given Dems’ razor-thin majority. Kelly isn’t the sharpest tongue on the stump, either, which has some Dems looking to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as another top VP prospect who could add executive experience to the ticket. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear — and even Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg — are outsiders but still in the mix. Harris has to lock down her pick by Aug. 7 to get her ticket on the ballot in every state. AROUND THE STATE — Oakland has agreed on terms to sell its share of the Coliseum to a private developer in a decision Mayor Sheng Thao hailed as a “massive win.” The deal will alleviate a significant portion of the city’s budget deficit and ward off mass layoffs in the city’s public safety departments. (San Francisco Chronicle) — California’s Covid surge is nearing a two-year summer high, according to measurements of California’s wastewater. The spike is driven in large part by highly transmissible FLiRT variants. (Los Angeles Times) — Encinitas native Jagger Eaton snagged the silver medal in Men’s Street Skateboarding yesterday at the Paris Olympics. (The San Diego Union-Tribune)   A message from Elected Officials to Protect America - Code Blue: The fossil fuel industry is spending millions to undermine the Make Polluters Pay Legislative Package which seeks to protect communities and hold polluters accountable for the mess they made. Will California leaders take this opportunity to choose the fiscally responsible route, making polluters pay and protecting Californians from the health and climate harms of the oil industry? California legislators: pass the Make Polluters Pay Bill Package – AB 1866: The Idle Well Cleanup Bill, AB 2716: The Low Producing Well Accountability Act, and AB 3233: The Local Environmental Choice and Safety Act. These bills are supported by a diverse coalition of climate, public health, environmental justice, youth, and faith advocates. Learn more.   PLAYBOOKERS PEOPLE MOVES — Shannon Olivieri has joined Essential Access Health as vice president of public Affairs. She was previously director of Reproductive Freedom for All California, and was a policy advisor to Harris when she was California’s AG. BIRTHDAYS — Arnold Schwarzenegger … Mark Beatty of Google … Ashley Alman … Todd Campbell of Clean Energy Fuels BELATED B-DAY WISHES — (was Monday): Jason Levin ... Joshua Radnor ... Shlomo and Yisroel Rechnitz WANT A SHOUT-OUT FEATURED? — Send us a birthday, career move or another special occasion to include in POLITICO’s California Playbook. You can now submit a shout-out using this Google form. CALIFORNIA POLICY IS ALWAYS CHANGING: Know your next move. From Sacramento to Silicon Valley, POLITICO California Pro provides policy professionals with the in-depth reporting and tools they need to get ahead of policy trends and political developments shaping the Golden State. To learn more about the exclusive insight and analysis this subscriber-only service offers, click here. Want to make an impact? POLITICO California has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Golden State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you’re promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness amongst this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Rebecca Haase to find out how: rhaase@politico.com.   Follow us on Twitter Dustin Gardiner @dustingardiner Lara Korte @lara_korte   Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook  |  Playbook PM  |  California Playbook  |  Florida Playbook  |  Illinois Playbook  |  Massachusetts Playbook  |  New Jersey Playbook  |  New York Playbook  |  Ottawa Playbook  |  Brussels Playbook  |  London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters Follow us

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