Trump and Musk got together for a chat on X Spaces on Monday night. Over a million users tuned in to hear the two-hour conversation. During their talk, Trump seemed to praise Musk for how he handles workers who strike.
Trump said, "I mean, I look at what you do. You walk in, you say, 'You want to quit?' I won't mention the name of the company, but they go on strike, and you go, 'You're all gone.'" But the law says workers can't be fired just for going on strike. It's a protected activity under the National Labor Relations Act.
UAW President Shawn Fain wasn't happy about what he heard. He fired back:
"When we say Donald Trump is a scab, this is what we mean. When we say Trump stands against everything our union stands for, this is what we mean. Donald Trump will always side against workers standing up for themselves, and he will always side with billionaires like Elon Musk, who is contributing $45 million a month to a Super PAC to get him elected. Both Trump and Musk want working-class people to sit down and shut up, and they laugh about it openly. It's disgusting, illegal, and totally predictable from these two clowns."
Trump's team didn't take this lying down. Brian Hughes, a senior adviser for Trump's campaign, called the charges "frivolous" and a "shameless political stunt." He said:
"Democrat special interest bosses may lie and stoke fear to try and stop President Trump from creating the broadest coalition of any candidate in history, but rank-and-file workers and their families know the truth. President Trump strengthened our economy and delivered results on behalf of the forgotten men and women of America, and he will do it again when he is re-elected on November 5."
Musk had his own comeback on X. He wrote, "The last two UAW presidents went to prison for bribery & corruption and, based on recent news, it looks like this guy will join them!"
This isn't the first time Musk has been in hot water over unions. He's known for not being a fan of workers joining unions. And when he took over Twitter (now X), he fired a lot of people. He told the BBC in April 2023 that it was "one of the hardest things he's had to do."
As for the claim that Musk is giving $45 million a month to help Trump get elected, Musk says that's not true.
The situation remains tense between the UAW, Trump, and Musk. We'll have to wait and see how these labor charges play out.
Source: ABC News
