Donald Trump’s one-on-one with Elon Musk Monday evening broke all kinds of records, and it was a free-wheeling discussion that covered a lot of topics – including labor unions and strikes. At one point, former President Trump made what sounded like an offhand comment about firing workers who go out on strike, which, to be fair, is illegal under current labor laws. The United Auto Workers (UAW) responded by claiming to have filed federal charges.
For what, precisely, is not known.
Commenting about the possibility, however, breaks no laws. The United Auto Workers (UAW) have nevertheless filed federal charges against Donald Trump and Elon Musk for the comment, although as of this writing, it’s unclear precisely what law they allege the two violated.
The United Auto Workers Union has filed federal labor charges against former President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, the union said Tuesday.
In a thread on X, the union said Trump and Musk had illegally attempted to “threaten and intimidate workers who stand up for themselves by engaging in protected concerted activity, such as strikes.”
Musk — who has endorsed Trump for president — interviewed him for two hours Monday night on X Spaces in a conversation that reached over 1 million users.
To call this action, the filing of federal charges, a bit of a stretch is much akin to calling the Battle of Rorke’s Drift a “mild disagreement.”
During the interview, Trump praised Musk as the “greatest cutter,” seemingly referring to the mass layoffs he conducted when he took over X, then known as Twitter.
“I mean, I look at what you do. You walk in, you say, ‘You want to quit?” Trump said. “I won’t mention the name of the company, but they go on strike, and you go, ‘You’re all gone.'”
Trump was almost certainly referring in part to the significant cuts to X’s staff when Musk took the former Twitter over, and to be honest, the previous organization was reportedly feather-bedded.
The UAW took – ironically – to Musk’s platform, X, to announce the action.
🧵UAW Files Federal Labor Charges Against Donald Trump and Elon Musk for Attempting to Intimidate and Threaten Workers
— UAW (@UAW) August 13, 2024
 A publicity stunt? Almost certainly. There is no law that I can think of that they violated in an off-hand comment in an interview.
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The UAW would be well advised to exercise some discretion here. While the major labor union’s leadership classes have always endorsed Democrats, funded Democrats’ campaigns, and worked to get Democrats elected, the rank-and-file union workers have tipped Republican in recent years, and these same rank-and-file may well find Trump’s populist message appealing.
In any case – and bear in mind I’m not a lawyer, nor do I play one on television – this case is headed nowhere. The charges would be – or at least, should be, given the current environment – struck down on First Amendment grounds the first time they appeared before a judge. This is a publicity stunt aimed at casting some shade on the Trump campaign, and nothing but.
Elon Musk replied on Tuesday, pointing out that the UAW has some skeletons in its own closet.
The last two UAW presidents went to prison for bribery & corruption and, based on recent news, it looks like this guy will join them!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 13, 2024
There is, we may very well remember, an old saying about people who live in glass houses.
