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California Gov. Gavin Newsom didn’t mince words when discussing Tesla CEO Elon Musk and the future of electric vehicles in a new Axios interview.
What’s happening?
There was a time not too long ago when Gov. Newsom and Musk weren’t just cordial — according to a February 2023 Politico article, they had a “bromance.”
On the occasion of a joint announcement between Tesla and the state of California in 2023, Musk acknowledged that Newsom was among the first to cough up a deposit for a Tesla Roadster in 2007.
Newsom referred to Musk as “brother,” and between jokes about their respective net worths, the governor praised Tesla’s CEO.
“I couldn’t be more proud of California’s commitment to support Tesla over the course of the last few decades. It’s a point of pride, always has been for me, that Tesla is a California company, started here first,” Newsom declared.
Many longstanding political and public alliances have faded in a few short years, including the bromance between Newsom and Musk, as the governor’s Axios interview showed.
In it, Newsom accused Musk of surrendering a now-accelerating EV transition to China at a key moment.
He described Musk as “one of the great disappointments” of the era, likening the CEO to Thomas Edison — the moneyed rival of Tesla’s namesake, iconic inventor Nikola Tesla.
“He’s the Edison of our time. It breaks my heart,” Newsom lamented.
Why is this concerning?
As Inc. noted, the federal government discontinued a longstanding EV tax credit in 2025, creating an immediate rift between Musk and President Donald Trump.
The outlet excerpted more of Newsom’s remarks during the interview, in which he mourned Musk’s abandonment of EV innovation in pursuit of robotics and space projects.
“Elon was the one accelerating [EV adoption], and now he’s put the brakes on his own innovation,” Newsom said.
His observations about China’s rise in the global EV market amid energy backsliding in the United States were underscored by Axios; the outlet noted China dominated 70% of the global EV market, which Newsom called Musk’s “greatest [own] goal” this decade.
Newsom spoke at length about EV adoption, citing global standing and market share, and Musk’s actions have demonstrably cratered Tesla’s once-dominant position.
In late 2025, the National Bureau of Economic Research examined the impact of Musk’s foray into American politics on Tesla, identifying a sales dip they dubbed the “Musk partisan effect.”
Newsom repeatedly emphasized that few had done more to encourage EV adoption than Musk had — and asserted that Musk himself had halted that momentum.
What’s being done about it?
Although the abrupt end of federal EV credits impacted the American market, states have stepped up to fill the gap and bolster electrification.
Gov. Newsom’s state budget proposal, introduced in January, included a replacement EV credit for California.
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