Trump amps up attacks on electric vehicles, a major Biden priority

Former President Trump has escalated his rhetoric against electric vehicles (EVs) on the campaign trail, including in key swing states poised to benefit from investments in EV manufacturing.

The former president’s frequently apocalyptic language around EVs made national news over the weekend, with Trump saying the Biden administration’s promotion of the vehicles would lead to a “blood bath” in the auto industry and beyond if President Biden wins reelection.

While much of the national coverage of the remarks centered on the former president's phrasing and his campaign’s insistence that it was meant figuratively, his comments were also part of a longer tradition of often exaggerated or false anti-EV rhetoric from Trump.

The former president has frequently attacked EVs in Michigan, a key swing state where recent polling has shown Biden running behind his 2020 performance. The state is also a major automotive manufacturing hub, and the former president has frequently sought to stoke or exploit autoworker anxieties about whether EVs could cost jobs in the industry. 

Last year, he falsely claimed electric vehicles would eliminate 40 percent of auto industry jobs, a figure that apparently derives from claims by Ford that an EV requires 40 percent less labor to manufacture. Trump has also attacked the vehicles' reliability relative to gas-powered cars, erroneously claiming they can “drive for 15 minutes before you have to get a charge.”

Mike Murphy, a Republican political consultant who has been critical of Trump and argued against politicizing electric vehicles, said that the Republican base has been negatively polarized against them, giving Trump — and other former candidates for the party's presidential nomination, including former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley — an incentive to attack the vehicles during the GOP primary. 

“EVs have become politically loaded among Republicans, so if you’re looking at a Republican primary, he’s partially driving that,” Murphy told The Hill. 

But, he said, such anti-EV invective is likely less appealing to swing voters, particularly if they associate local and state investment with the push for EVs. 

Murphy said that according to his research with the EV Politics Project, a research firm he founded to explore partisan divides around EVs, states that have seen heavy EV manufacturing investment comprise about two-thirds of electoral college votes.

In Georgia, where Biden won in 2020 but has trailed in 2024 polling, Gov. Brian Kemp (R) has endorsed Trump and criticized the administration’s energy policies but nonetheless touted EV investment. In 2023, he vowed to make the Peach State the "electric mobility capital" of the nation.

More recently, Kemp acknowledged the polarization around EVs and seemingly blamed Biden’s policies for it, saying at a February Politico event, “When the government starts mandating things and pushing people, it turns a lot of people off, and that’s what’s happened a lot in the EV marketplace versus letting the product drive the market.”

The Biden administration, as part of a broader goal to halve U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by the end of the decade, has worked to promote increased use of EVs through measures including tax credits for the purchase of one. The administration has set a goal of EVs comprising half of new car sales by 2030. 

On Wednesday, the Environmental Protection Agency finalized a rule that is expected to necessitate a big shift toward EVs in the coming years. Meanwhile, the 2022 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law included $7.5 billion in funds to build out EV charging infrastructure, as well as tax credits aimed at boosting the vehicles' adoption.

In addition to his broadsides against EVs in general, Trump has made clear these policies would be on the chopping block if he secures a second term.

Biden administration policies that incentivize the purchase of EVs have created an opening with Republican voters who feel ambivalent or positive about the vehicles generally but chafe at the prospect of being compelled to buy one, said Barrett Marson, a Republican strategist based in Arizona.

“If Americans don’t want to switch over en masse to EVs, you need to give the people what they want,” he told The Hill.

Murphy added that research by his organization indicates about 44 percent of Republicans agree with the characterization of EVs as “the future” of vehicles.

“A decent hunk of Republicans do think EVs are coming,” he said, adding that he thinks Trump's attacks are “a general election mistake.”

He noted, however, that while demand for EVs has grown in recent years, it may be at or nearing a saturation point.

Keith Naughton, another Republican strategist, said Trump’s comments on EVs may help him amid news of slumping demand as well as big manufacturers such as Tesla and Ford planning facilities in states outside the Midwest such as Texas, California and Tennessee.

“He's honed in on EVs, because there's been all bad news about them over the winter,” Naughton said. “There's been less adoption, and I think this is a significant political problem for Biden among swing voters and in these swing states.” Naughton has contributed op-eds to The Hill. 

The presumptive GOP nominee has also tied EVs to leadership at the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, another frequent target of his criticism. While UAW President Shawn Fain has said the transition to EVs must include guarantees protecting autoworker jobs, he has rejected the idea of a binary choice between the two and has been a harsh critic of Trump. The union formally endorsed Biden for reelection in January. 

On top of the potential political calculus behind Trump’s attacks on EVs, the broadsides align with attacks he has repeatedly levied against renewable energy, often accompanied by false or outlandish claims. The former president previously claimed windmills cause cancer and blamed on- and offshore wind turbines for the deaths of birds and whales, respectively. While onshore turbines are associated with higher bird mortality, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration data does not indicate offshore wind power is a major cause of whale deaths.

A potential wild card in Trump's opposition to EVs is Tesla CEO Elon Musk, whose own rhetoric has become increasingly partisan. He called for a “red wave” in November and has promoted numerous conservative figures on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, and Trump confirmed a meeting with Musk earlier this month.

Trump acknowledged the two men have “opposing views” on EVs in an interview with CNBC’s "Squawk Box," during which he also used uncharacteristically tempered language on the subject, saying, “I’m all for electric cars, but you have to have all the alternatives also.”

As Musk and Trump increasingly see eye to eye politically, the Tesla boss may see an opening to sway Trump on electric cars, said Marson. He noted that Trump came out against a bill that could either force the sale of TikTok or ban the app in the U.S. shortly after a meeting with GOP donor Jeff Yass, who owns a stake in TikTok. 

“Elon Musk probably took away something from” that episode, Marson said. “Send a billionaire to buddy up with him and maybe he’ll change his stance.”

If the cash-strapped Trump campaign is willing to triangulate on EVs in exchange for Musk’s support, “that could pay dividends over the next few years,” he added.

Rachel Frazin contributed.