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Donald Trump’s one-on-one with Elon Musk on Monday evening shattered records and covered a wide range of topics, including labor unions and strikes. During the conversation, former President Trump made what appeared to be an offhand remark about firing striking workers, a move that is undeniably illegal under current labor laws. In response, the United Auto Workers (UAW) announced that they have filed federal charges. The exact nature of the charges, however, remains unclear.
While discussing the matter is not against the law, the United Auto Workers (UAW) still filed federal charges against Donald Trump and Elon Musk for the comment. As of this writing, it is unclear exactly which law they claim was violated.
On Tuesday, the UAW confirmed that they have filed federal labor charges against former President Donald Trump and Elon Musk. In a thread on X, the union accused Trump and Musk of illegally attempting 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, hosted a two-hour interview with him on X Spaces, reaching over a million users. To describe the filing of federal charges as a stretch would be akin to calling the Battle of Rorke’s Drift a “mild disagreement.”
During the interview, Trump praised Musk as the “greatest cutter,” seemingly referencing the extensive layoffs Musk implemented after acquiring X, formerly 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 likely referred to Musk’s significant staff reductions at X and to the previous organization’s reputation for being overly staffed. Ironically, the UAW used Musk’s own platform, X, to announce their action.
Is this a publicity stunt? Almost certainly. There is no apparent law they violated with an offhand comment in an interview.
The UAW might want to exercise caution here. Although the major labor union’s leadership has consistently endorsed Democrats, funded their campaigns, and worked to get them elected, the rank-and-file union workers have leaned Republican in recent years, and these same workers may 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 unlikely to go anywhere. The charges would likely be dismissed on First Amendment grounds as soon as they reached a judge. This appears to be a publicity stunt aimed at casting a shadow on the Trump campaign, and nothing more.
On Tuesday, Elon Musk responded by noting that the UAW has its own issues to address.
As the saying goes, those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
