Elon Musk, the outspoken CEO of Tesla , criticized federal government efforts to encourage electric-vehicle adoption and slammed a signature bill from President Joe Biden that would increase incentives for consumers to buy EVs.
“Honestly, I would just can this whole bill,” Musk said Monday, speaking at The Wall Street Journal‘s CEO Council Summit.
The CEO of the auto maker was referencing Biden’s roughly $2 trillion social spending and climate bill, which would introduce generous consumer tax credits for buying EVs built by union workers with batteries made in the U.S.
Factories at Tesla (ticker: TSLA) are nonunion, and the company’s cars qualify for a smaller credit under the bill, which has been passed by the House and is before the Senate.
“It might be better if the bill doesn’t pass,” Musk said. “The federal budget deficit is insane.”
The CEO also pushed back against funding for electric-vehicle charging, instead pointing to improvements in airports and highways—including building tunnels—as being of a higher priority for infrastructure.
“Did we need support for gas stations? We don’t. There’s no need for support for a charging network. Delete it,” Musk said. “I’m literally saying: ‘Get rid of all subsidies.’”
This isn’t the first time Musk has been outspoken against Biden’s signature bill; he called the president a “puppet” of the United Auto Workers union on Twitter in late October.