President Trump supports Tesla plant reopening in California

ALAMEDA, Calif. --- Tesla CEO Elon Musk has emerged as a champion of defying stay-home orders intended to stop the coronavirus from spreading, picking up support as well as critics on social media.

Among supporters was President Donald Trump, who on Tuesday tweeted that Tesla’s San Francisco Bay Area factory should be allowed to open despite health department orders to stay closed except for basic operations. Trump wrote that the plant can be reopened safely.

Tesla’s factory reopened Monday with Musk daring authorities to arrest him. The company submitted a plan to protect worker safety, which the Alameda County Public Health Department is reviewing.

The plant in Fremont, a city of more than 230,000 people south of San Francisco, had been closed since March 23. It employs about 10,000 workers.