The United Auto Workers filed a federal labor complaint against former President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Tuesday, claiming that their Monday night interview on X illegally intimidated workers.
At issue is a comment Trump made about striking workers in the middle of a rambling two-hour conversation between the two billionaires, where Musk sought to bolster Trump’s campaign for reelection. Musk owns the social media site and endorsed Trump for president last month.
Trump said to Musk, “You’re the greatest cutter. I mean, I look at what you do. You walk in and you just 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 OK. You’re all gone.’”
Musk chuckled but did not voice a reply.
The complaint from the UAW, the main labor union for the U.S. auto industry, was filed against both the Trump campaign and Tesla with the National Labor Relations Board and claimed that the comments by the two leaders threatened workers “engaged in protected concerted activity, including striking.” Striking is considered a protected activity under federal law except under certain circumstances.
If the board determines that violations of the National Labor Relations Act occurred, it could penalize Trump and Musk.
In a press release, the UAW said “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.” The organization has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in her presidential run.
The Harris campaign wrote on X after the complaint was filed that “Trump’s entire campaign is in service of people like Elon Musk and himself — self-obsessed rich guys who will sell out the middle class.”
Musk also said in a post on X on Tuesday that “the last two UAW presidents went to prison for bribery & corruption and, based on recent news, it looks like this guy will join them!”
Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In their conversation, Musk and Trump focused mostly on last month’s assassination attempt on the former president, illegal immigration and the economy, with few remarks about their opinions on regulations of electric vehicles .
