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Elon Musk on Thursday refused to speak directly on Texas abortion law after Gov. Greg Abbott said Tesla and SpaceX CEO supported his state’s “social policies” following implementation of the measure severely restrictive.
“In general, I think government should rarely impose its will on the people and in doing so should aspire to maximize their cumulative happiness,” Musk told CNBC in a tweet.
“Having said that, I’d rather stay out of politics,” said Musk, whose companies and private foundation both develop their operations in Texas.
Abortion rights advocates and providers say the law effectively reverses the precedent for abortion protections set in Roe v. Wade in 1973. President Joe Biden and others in his administration, as well as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Vowed to take action after the Supreme Court refused to block the entry into force of the law.
Earlier Thursday, Abbott told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” that the new law and other politically divisive social issues laws would not make his state less attractive to businesses or individuals.
“You have to understand that there are a lot of businesses and a lot of Americans who like the social positions taken by the state of Texas,” Abbott said.
“It doesn’t slow down businesses coming to the state of Texas at all. It actually speeds up the process for businesses coming to Texas,” Abbott said.
He added that Musk “had to leave California because of the social policies in California, and Elon constantly tells me that he likes the social policies of the state of Texas.”
Musk personally moved from California to Texas last year, potentially saving him billions of dollars in taxes. He had not shared his thoughts on the “heartbeat” abortion law, which also allows any private citizen to sue anyone who “helps and encourages” most abortions.
Musk has historically shown little reluctance to weigh in on political issues.
For example, in early 2020, amid the first waves of the pandemic, Musk lashed out at government orders to stay at home, calling them ‘fascists’ in a jubilant rant during the call for results. of Tesla for the first quarter of 2020.
Under his leadership, Tesla then filed and ultimately withdrew a lawsuit against Alameda County in California, claiming his health orders contradicted the state’s policy on business closures.
Last year, Musk donated to three Republican anti-abortion lawmakers and four Democratic lawmakers who support abortion rights, each donating $ 2,800, according to political money tracker OpenSecrets.org.
Tesla and SpaceX both have sizable operations in Texas. Tesla is currently building its second US auto plant outside of Austin. And SpaceX has been operating in the state since 2003.
Musk said on March 31 that the company is expected to hire more than 10,000 people by 2022 for the new plant underway in Texas.
Tesla’s corporate headquarters currently remains in Palo Alto, California, and Tesla operates its first car assembly plant in the United States near Fremont. But last May, Musk threatened to move that headquarters and future development to Texas and Nevada to protest the pandemic-related restrictions in place in the Golden State.
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