Presidential Debate (Taylor's Version), OEMs on Twitter, and Lessons From Fisker

In This Issue

• Presidential Debate (Taylor’s Version)

• Why Are OEMs Still on Twitter?

• Lessons From Fisker

• From Around the Internet

• Ugh, Right?

Presidential Debate (Taylor’s Version)

The first presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and vice president Kamala Harris on Tuesday. Perhaps the most interesting thing, at least in the purview of this publication, is that there wasn’t time to really talk about climate, transportation, or policies on electrification.

The former president did briefly mention that under a Harris administration, inflation would continue to rise and that gas prices would follow suit. Locally, unleaded gasoline is $2.99 a gallon and it’s the lowest it's been in a long time, so it’s probably a good thing for Trump to not talk too much about it.

But one thing that does fall into the purview of this publication is the misinformation and hatred that Trump spewed out about the Haitian immigrants living in Springfield, Ohio. It’s not true. Trump’s running mate knows it’s not true, even as he continues to peddle the misinformation. It’s a vile and disgusting trope. It’s blood libel in every sense. And it’s spreading on Twitter.

After the debate ended, Taylor Swift publicly stated that she is voting for Kamala Harris in November. One of the reasons she cited was the Trump campaign using generative AI to make images of her appearing to support Trump. It’ll be interesting to see how that plays out in tech circles, because she has the resources to make it a talked-about and important issue.

After that, the internet’s stupidest meme lord (and perhaps thirstiest), decided that he needed to chime in on Swift’s endorsement of Harris in one of the most disgusting ways possible.

Musk defenders – and there are many – will say he was just “making a funny” and not “being serious.” But the fact that people believe police officers didn’t die on Jan. 6, but believe Haitians are eating cats (something Elon Musk supports in the retweet below), when these statements are completely wrong means that people ARE in fact taking it seriously. We’re only starting to see the consequences of that now.

We do live in the dumbest timeline. But despite all of this, there are still automotive OEMs – and executives from those OEMs – actively engaged on Twitter. Which leads me to the my next question…

Why Are OEMs Still on Twitter?

X (the dumpster fire formerly known as Twitter) is a cesspool of hate and crypto bots. It’s home of influencers who are on the take from Russia to promote Putin propaganda. The CEO is sharing blood libel that Haitian immigrants are eating cats.

He’s also allegedly using private DMs for his own personal benefit.

With the possibility of the chief executive of Twitter (who is also the chief executive of Tesla), being able to read the messages between customers and manufacturers, why on Earth would they still operate on Twitter?

With obvious racist hatred spreading like wildfire from the chief executive himself, why on Earth would other OEMs stay on Twitter?

Why would they advertise on Twitter? Why would they take the lead from Elon in regards to DEI initiatives all because of some Twitter troll?

I’m sure it’s to “be where the customers are.” But would Ford’s CEO remain on Twitter if GM bought Twitter and it was rumored Mary Barra was reading his DMs?

It seems like madness to me.

Lessons From Fisker

Earlier this week, I attended a CEO roundtable discussion with Swamy Kotagiri of Magna International. During that discussion, the executive discussed he and his company’s learnings from the failure of Fisker Automotive. Would he work with a startup again?