CNBC’s Jim Cramer Slams California Over Tesla Closure: ‘This is Not the Soviet Union in 1935’

CNBC’s Jim Cramer said on Tuesday that Tesla CEO Elon Musk is right to defy California by reopening a Tesla manufacturing plant in Alameda County, saying “it’s not the Soviet Union in 1935.”

“I think that he is correct in thinking that the whole thrust of this country is to put people to work. Why do we presume that he can’t do it in a fashion that’s safe?” Cramer said. “This is not Tyson. This is not Smithfield. Why do we think that this man is necessarily going to put people at risk?”

Musk said on Twitter that production would resume at the Fremont plant — Tesla’s sole manufacturing facility in the United States — on May 11, and in an email to employees, referred to an order last week from Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom allowing manufacturers to reopen. However, Alameda County has ordered residents to shelter in place and said Tesla could not reopen without a county-approved plan.

He added that he would be on the manufacturing line with employees, writing, “If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me.”

Cramer also mockingly referred to the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration and suggested safety concerns were overblown. “We got rid of OSHA — oh, OSHA still exists. I’m sorry. They would be valuable here… It’s not the Soviet Union in 1935. We’re not putting coal into an engine. I think you can sit down with this man and work it out. That’s all I’m saying.”

He added that the controversy is “on the firing line of what’s wrong with America.” Cramer also said it would be “very valuable” if President Donald Trump weighed in on the controversy — which he did on Twitter just 10 minutes later, tweeting, “California should let Tesla & @elonmusk open the plant, NOW. It can be done Fast & Safely!”

Musk said last week that he would seek to move the plant to Texas or Nevada if officials did not allow it to reopen. the Alameda County Public Health Department said in a statement this week that it was moving “closer to an agreed upon safety plan for reopening beyond Minimum Basic Operations by working through steps that Tesla has agreed to adopt.”

Watch above via CNBC.