Simple answer: Tesla isn't unionized. Joe, being a creature of 19th/early 20th Century ideas (when unions were a force for social good), will never tout any business that isn't unionized.

Biden left Tesla out of his speech? Nancy Pelosi, hardest hit.

https://nbc25news.com/news/nation-world/pelosi-bought-tesla-stock-weeks-before-biden-rolled-out-electric-vehicle-plan

Is it because he's unpopular with environmentalists because of the space stuff?

Years ago, when Pontiac had finally built its Grand Am with a frame stiffness comparable to that of the Toyota Camry, the Honda Accord, and the Nissan Altima, GM did not tout that as an achievement. Instead it bragged that its Grand Am's frame stiffness rating was higher than that of the Chevrolet Malibu, the Ford Taurus, or the Chrysler Sebring.

When GM needed to compete with import automobiles, it didn't improve its own offerings, but instead created a new division, Saturn, specifically to compete with imports. No surprise that the endeavor failed and the Saturn line has been discontinued.

There is a blindness in the American automobile industry when it comes to anything but the original American automobile companies. GM sees it competitors as Ford and Chrysler - and does not count Toyota, Honda, Volkswagen, or Nissan among them. Hence, GM - and other American car companies - have not designed or built their cars to compete with the offerings of those companies.

Unions, ostensibly representing the labor forces of the American automobile industry, also fails to recognize their employers' true competitors. Politicians likewise, are blind when it comes to grasping what competition the heavily unionized Big Three actually face.

Joe Biden ignoring Musk in his electric car speech could be a snub of a non-unionized company, or it could be an indication that Joe is just as blind to the sea changes in the automobile industry as the Big Three have been for decades.

Saturn failed because it was doing better than GM. As an effectively owned subsidiary the parent company couldn't accept that. So they took it back under their management and replaced the engineering department with standard GM engineers. At that point it was only a matter of time till Saturn closed. It was GM in all but name.

Saturn failed because it was doing better than GM. ~ Ben at November 21, 2021 5:52 AM

Perhaps you're right. Nonetheless, the cars blew. They were ugly and poorly-made. I've known two people in two states who had one and they would not recommend Saturn to anyone.

In my twenties, I went to a car show where the initial Saturn models were introduced to the local market and the shipyard welder standing next to me leaned over and disparaged the welds in the demo vehicle. His commentary, and GM's blindness to its actual competitive situation, convinced me not to buy a Saturn until the kinks were worked out, if ever. Instead, I bought a Honda that I then owned for 11 years and almost 200,000 miles.

And whether Saturn was too successful for GM and UAW to accept doesn't change the fact that, in order to compete with the imports, GM did not improve its own product, improve its manufacturing processes, or aim its marketing at its new competitors, but built yet another division aimed at what it somehow thought was a market segment separate from that served by Chevrolet, Pontiac, or Buick.

Even in the '80s and early '90s, GM had not yet realized that the market segmentation it had been using since World War II was long obsolete and that potential Chevrolet, Pontiac, or Buick customers were the ones buying Hondas, Toyotas, and Nissans.

Those were the GM Saturns. I had one of the early ones. They were fairly basic but good and cheap for a recent grad. It was later when GM took over that the cars started to suck.

"Instead, I bought a Honda that I then owned for 11 years and almost 200,000 miles." ~Conan

My Saturn Vue did roughly that too. But when it was time to replace it I bought a Volkswagen. What Saturn was selling at that time was garbage. As for the VW, it did 120k. So not as good as your Honda but definitely better than anything GM was putting out.

"And whether Saturn was too successful for GM and UAW to accept doesn't change the fact that, in order to compete with the imports, GM did not improve its own product, improve its manufacturing processes, or aim its marketing at its new competitors ..." ~Conan

I agree. I was just pointing out it wasn't just with imports they did that. When their subsidiary became too competitive with them instead of learning and improving their own products they instead chose to sabotage their subsidiary.