It seems like Tesla’s plight has reached the highest office in the US, which is not surprising considering Elon Musk’s relationship with current US president Donald Trump, but the consequences of this might not be good for the current president, as many are criticizing his involvement with a private company.
The scandal started a week ago, when Trump stood in front of the White House lawn and gave a sales pitch for Tesla cars. This was followed by U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who, on Wednesday stated that the stock for the brand will “never be this cheap” and that people should “buy Tesla”. His pitch continued on Fox, where Lutnick made other comments like “When people understand the things he’s building, the robots he’s building, the technology he’s building, people are going to be dreaming of today.”
At least his money is where his mouth speaks, as he himself owns Tesla stock through his brokerage form Cantor Fitzgerald, but considering that the company has been one of Trump’s major backers in the election, there have been many that have questioned the legality of these comments coming from elected officials with vested interests in the results.
The president’s pleas for Tesla, legal or not
The thing that confuses many is that this comes after the Department of Defense took Tesla out of some of their purchasing orders for new vehicles in order to avoid any conflict of interest. The ethics of these comments instigating the public to invest in a company so tied to the new presidency are questionable at best, and many experts have backed the doubters by confirming that the U.S. Commerce Secretary, broke a 1989 law prohibiting federal employees from using “public office for private gain” which includes a ban on “endorsements.”
Lutnick may plead ignorance about this, after all he is not a career polititian or an accomplished bureaucrat who is appraised of the ins and outs of the post that he now occupies. His credentials are limited to being a cryptocurrency enthusiast who appeared on Trump’s reality show ‘The Apprentice’ before his appointment. Having said that, ignorance of the law does not exclude you from having to follow it, and his comments could (and likely should) land him and the president in some hot water.
Presidents are usually exempt from the rule due to the privileges of being in office, although there is no record of any other president making similar declarations in the past with such blatant self-interest, but ministers are not. However, as it has become the norm during Trump’s presidency, there will likely be no repercussions for Lutnick.
Trump critic and former Republican White House ethics czar Richard Painter spoke of the incident with resignation “They’re not even thinking of ethics. I don’t know if people care… The use of the president’s name to sell cars, to raise money for a private university, is unacceptable. It never happened before 2016. This Tesla thing is not good.”
And what happened after 2016 to give us that benchmark? Well, during Trump’s first presidency White House adviser Kellyanne Conway made statements in 2017 urging TV viewers to “Go buy Ivanka stuff.” At the time there were barely any consequences for the comments, the incident resulted in what amounted to a stern reprimand from top government lawyers, citing ethics violations and warning her against repeating such actions. The lack of real consequences is likely to repeat itself in this situation, and Lutnick may not even get the reprimand.
The law is clear, and every other administration has been able to adhere to it. It seems like the fact that the appointed individuals are skating without consequences will continue for the remainder of the term.