‘HIT HIM HARD’: KAMALA HARRIS ADMITS BIDEN’S SNUB OF ELON MUSK WAS A “BIG MISTAKE” — AND IT MAY HAVE CHANGED EVERYTHING

It was a moment that now echoes through political circles with the weight of regret. Former Vice President Kamala Harris has openly acknowledged that President Joe Biden’s decision to exclude Elon Musk from a high-profile 2021 White House event on electric vehicles was, in her words, a “big mistake.” According to Harris, the snub not only alienated one of America’s most influential innovators but also helped pave the way for Musk’s public backing of Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election — a move that reshaped the political and media landscape.

The event in question took place in August 2021, when the Biden administration hosted automakers at the White House to celebrate the nation’s electric vehicle future. The stage featured the CEOs of Ford, General Motors, and Stellantis, but notably absent was Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla, the very company that had arguably done more than any other to make electric vehicles mainstream. At the time, the omission raised eyebrows, with many calling it a politically motivated decision meant to reward unionized automakers — Tesla, after all, operates without a traditional labor union.

But four years later, as the dust settles from one of the most fiercely contested elections in modern U.S. history, Harris’s admission suggests that moment carried far deeper consequences than anyone realized.

“Looking back, I think it was a misstep,” Harris reportedly said during a recent private forum, according to aides present at the discussion. “We should have found a way to include Elon. He’s a major player, whether people like him or not, and leaving him out hit him hard.”

The phrase — “hit him hard” — has since become a headline-grabbing soundbite, capturing the weight of a political miscalculation that may have alienated one of the most influential voices in technology and culture.

Musk’s reaction to the 2021 event was immediate and public. “Tesla wasn’t invited,” he posted on X (then Twitter), followed by a winking emoji — the kind of short, sharp message that often sets off a storm. Within hours, social media buzzed with debate: how could the White House host an electric vehicle summit without the company that defined the EV revolution? The exclusion felt personal to Musk’s supporters and symbolic to his critics, reinforcing the idea that Washington preferred politics over innovation.

Over time, the perceived slight hardened into something more consequential. Musk, who had previously expressed mixed political leanings — supporting Democrats on social issues and Republicans on business regulation — began to speak more openly about his dissatisfaction with the Biden administration. By late 2023, his tone had turned openly hostile toward what he called “a government captured by bureaucracy.” When he announced his support for Donald Trump ahead of the 2024 election, citing concerns over economic policy, free speech, and innovation, it marked a defining shift in the tech billionaire’s public identity.

Political analysts say the fallout from that early snub was emblematic of a broader issue in Washington’s relationship with Silicon Valley. “You had the world’s richest man — and arguably the most innovative — feeling publicly dismissed,” said Dr. Andrea Lawson, a political communication expert at Georgetown University. “That wasn’t just about bruised ego. It was about a missed opportunity for partnership between government and private innovation at a time when America needed it most.”

Within the Biden administration, there was quiet acknowledgment that the decision had been divisive. Several officials privately admitted that while the intention was to highlight unionized American manufacturers, the optics backfired. The image of a Tesla-less EV summit became, to many, a metaphor for Washington’s selective embrace of progress.

Harris’s candid reflection, therefore, carries unusual weight. Rarely do top officials publicly concede misjudgments of that magnitude, especially involving figures as polarizing as Elon Musk. Yet her willingness to do so may reflect a larger attempt to reconcile with tech leaders — and perhaps repair bridges frayed by years of tension between Silicon Valley and Washington.

“Elon Musk is not someone you can simply ignore,” one former White House adviser said under condition of anonymity. “He controls the largest private satellite network in the world, dominates the EV industry, and now owns one of the biggest social media platforms. Leaving him off that guest list in 2021 wasn’t just a PR error — it was a strategic blunder.”

For Musk, the episode seems to have marked a turning point. His subsequent ventures — from SpaceX’s government contracts to his vocal presence on X — became intertwined with political discourse. His support for Trump was viewed by some as an act of protest, by others as a strategic alliance to push back against what he sees as government overreach.

Still, in her remarks, Harris was careful to avoid hostility toward Musk. Instead, she framed her comments as a reflection on lessons learned. “We should always aim to include, not exclude, especially when it comes to innovation and the future of American industry,” she said.

That sentiment, observers note, may signal a more pragmatic tone from Harris as she reenters public life. Whether her admission will reshape perceptions of the administration’s handling of the Musk relationship remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: what once seemed like a simple event-planning oversight in 2021 has evolved into a case study in how small political decisions can ripple outward, altering alliances and even influencing elections.

As one political columnist quipped on social media after Harris’s comments surfaced, “Never underestimate the power of a missed invitation. It might just change history.”