[ripjaygn]

Biden held an EV summit in 2021 and didn't invite Tesla. He declared GM's Mary Barra as the pioneer of EVs when GM had only manufactured 28 EVs that quarter and Tesla sold hundreds of thousands that were all manufactured in the US. The WSJ recently reported that it was because the UAW donated heavily to his campaign.

[elmerfud]

I do see a bit of a difference between a summit organized by an elected official and bureaucrats in unelected positions exerting personal influence. At some level when we elect someone we elect them based upon how they will exercise their discretionary authority. The role of the president isn't simply to carry out process. There is discretion and how they execute the duties of their office and holding a summit as in your example is one of those things. The recourse here is that is an elected official and if the people are unhappy with how they're executing that discretionary duties they simply elect another person.

When you're talking about a bureaucratic lifer at some agency who is supposed to implement regulations and regulatory oversight that Congress has enacted that's a completely different thing. What recourse do the people have if this non-elected bureaucrat is not acting in an impartial way when they execute their duties?

[mardifoufs]

I think the difference is that the president doesn't hold a regulatory role. Like, he isn't supposed to be "impartial", he's inherently political in a way that civil servants shouldn't be (not openly, and not in a way that affects their jobs).

[orwin]

Wasn't it a UAW EV summit? Or was it an event organized by executive power? Because if it was organized by executive power, i find it baffling. If it was organized by the Union like i just read, and they invited Biden who accepted, i find it weird but quite normal, and the rest is just outrage bait and whining.

[ivewonyoung]

It was an EV event organized by executive power, Tesla wasn't invited because a major political donor to the presidential campaign, the UAW, didn't want Tesla there.

More details from the WSJ.

https://archive.md/856RL

[orwin]

Well, in that case this is dumb. And I don't think a president should organize any event that's not related to foreign policy.

[sickofparadox]

The UAW is why Elon wasn't there, but the summit certainly was not organized (directly) by them.