The United Auto Workers (UAW) union has filed federal labor violation charges against Former President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
This action comes after an interview in which Trump reportedly hinted at dismissing striking workers.
The conversation between the two billionaires lasted nearly two hours and drew an audience of over a million people, during which labor practices were discussed.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 13, 2024
During the X interview, Trump mentioned a significant cyberattack on the servers that resulted in delays to its livestream. They also discussed the possibility of Musk serving on a “government efficiency commission” aimed at reducing the government’s size.
I mean, I look at what you do,” Trump said to Musk. “You walk in, you say, ‘You want to quit?’ They go on strike. I won’t mention the name of the company, but they go on strike, and you say, ‘That’s okay. You’re all gone. You’re all gone. So every one of you is gone.'”
It is illegal to fire striking workers and to even threaten to fire them, under the National Labor Relations Act.
After Trump called Musk “the greatest cutter,” Musk pivoted away from the conversation without confirming or denying Trump’s comments.
The UAW is making efforts to unionize Tesla workers and has given its support to Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election, indicating strained relations with both Musk and Trump.
“Both Trump and Musk want working class people to sit down and shut up, and they laugh about it openly,” UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement. “It’s disgusting, illegal and totally predictable from these two clowns.”
Trump campaign senior advisor Brian Hughes called the charges a “shameless political stunt” designed to erode “Trump’s overwhelming support among American workers.”
Since when is it considered illegal to discuss a hypothetical future action?
Neither Musk nor Trump was presenting a policy proposal or making any actual threats toward any specific union.
If having an informal conversation about something that is illegal has now become unlawful, then freedom of speech is effectively extinguished in the U.S., and a significant number of Democrats will also need to be incarcerated for discussing various other illegal activities, such as advocating for the confiscation of people’s firearms.
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