Kamala Harris says excluding Elon Musk hurt US EV progress, calls it ‘big mistake’

WASHINGTON, DC: Former US Vice President Kamala Harris admitted that leaving Tesla CEO Elon Musk out of the Biden administration’s 2021 EV Summit was a serious mistake. Harris’ statement marks one of the first public acknowledgments from a senior Biden administration official regarding Tesla’s exclusion from the event, a politically short-sighted move given the company’s dominance in the EV sector. 

Kamala expresses regret for excluding Elon Musk

Harris stressed that a US president must put aside political biases when national achievements are at stake during a live interview at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit in Washington, DC, a point she also discusses in her new book ‘107 Days’.

Her comments refer to a long-standing tension that began when Tesla was excluded from the White House event. 

“I write in the book that I thought it was a big mistake not to invite Elon Musk when we did a big EV event,” Harris said. “Here he is, the major American manufacturer of extraordinary innovation in this space — well, and in space — and the fact that he was not invited on merit… A president of the United States, I believe, has to put aside political loyalties when they get in the way of what is actually… and should be a source of pride for us as Americans that we’re creating that technology and innovation. So I thought that was a mistake."

“And I don’t know Elon Musk, but I have to assume that it was something that hit him hard and had an impact on his perspective.”

Tesla exclusion and fallout

Tesla, the leading US electric vehicle maker, was excluded from the White House EV Summit held on August 5, 2021, where then-president Joe Biden hosted Detroit’s unionized automakers.

The summit focused on companies like Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, which were only beginning their EV transitions, while Tesla was already delivering hundreds of thousands of fully electric vehicles each quarter.

The decision to leave out Musk sparked months of tension, with Musk criticizing the administration for overlooking Tesla’s key role in advancing EV adoption. He later met with senior Biden aides in January 2023 to discuss electrification, though he did not meet the president. 

Tesla’s continued dominance

Despite rising competition from legacy automakers and Chinese EV makers, Tesla remains a global leader. Tesla delivered a record 497,099 vehicles in Q3 2025 and continues to pioneer autonomous driving and robotics innovation.

Meanwhile, Musk has refocused on Tesla, SpaceX, xAI, and his other ventures following a falling out with President Donald Trump earlier this year.