Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) hit back at Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) and Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:SPCX) CEO Elon Musk following questions raised about the role of government subsidies in Musk-led enterprises’ successes.
Elon Musk Scared To Talk About Subsidies
Quoting a response from Musk on the social media platform X on Sunday, where the CEO said that Federal subsidies made up for less than 2% of SpaceX and Tesla’s values, also adding that the subsidies and incentives helped the companies’ competitors more than Tesla and SpaceX.
Markey shared a screenshot of an old Truth Social post by President Donald Trump, in which Trump claimed that Musk got more subsidies than “any human being in history,” adding that the trillionaire would have to “close up shop” and move back to South Africa if it weren’t for the incentives.
“For all those wondering why Elon is scared of this conversation,” Markey said in the post.
Elon Musk Defends Tesla Sales
The comments come as Musk recently defended against allegations that his enterprises heavily benefited from government-backed subsidies and incentives.
Musk said that Tesla sales grew following the sunsetting of the $7,500 Federal EV Credit at the end of September 2025. “Tesla sales actually INCREASED, because more buyers shifted from other EV makers to Tesla,” the trillionaire said in his response.
U.S. EV sales could hit 85,000 units, the highest since the end of the Federal EV Credit at the end of September 2025, according to data by Cox Automotive. The average EV transaction price during May also fell 4% YoY to $54,532.
According to Benzinga Edge Rankings, Tesla scores well on the Growth and Quality metrics, while also providing a favorable price trend in the Short and Long term.
Price Action: Tesla shares were down 0.08% to $406.10 during the after-hours trading session on Friday.
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