1 00:00:01,960 --> 00:00:04,520 Hey everybody. Welcome back to the Elon Musk 2 00:00:04,520 --> 00:00:07,120 Podcast. This is a show where we discuss 3 00:00:07,320 --> 00:00:11,520 the critical crossroads that shape SpaceX, Tesla X, The 4 00:00:11,520 --> 00:00:15,600 Boring Company, and Neurolink. I'm your host, Will Walden. 5 00:00:17,080 --> 00:00:20,280 Elon Musk announced Saturday his intention to form the American 6 00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:23,520 Party targeting specific congressional seats to control 7 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:26,200 swing votes on major legislation. 8 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:29,880 The announcement triggered a 7% drop in Tesla stock price on 9 00:00:29,880 --> 00:00:33,280 Monday morning, pushing the EV maker toward its worst trading 10 00:00:33,280 --> 00:00:36,920 day since June 5th of this year. Now, Tesla shareholders have 11 00:00:36,920 --> 00:00:40,400 grown increasingly frustrated with Elon Musk's political 12 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:42,920 activities, doing them as distractions from the company 13 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:47,560 score business challenges. Now, Elon outlined his vision 14 00:00:47,560 --> 00:00:51,640 for a third party of politics that would compete for just two 15 00:00:51,640 --> 00:00:55,000 or three Senate seats and eight to 10 House districts. 16 00:00:55,480 --> 00:00:58,520 The Musk believes these targeted races would give his party 17 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:01,880 enough leverage to act as the deciding vote on contentious 18 00:01:01,880 --> 00:01:04,040 legislation. He claims this strategy would 19 00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:08,080 ensure laws that serve the true will of the people. 20 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:11,920 The announcement marks Musk's second major political 21 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:15,000 initiative this year following his controversial involvement 22 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:18,360 with Doe. The Tesla investors have 23 00:01:18,360 --> 00:01:22,240 expressed mounting concern about Musk's political ambitions 24 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:24,440 affecting the company's performance and brand image. 25 00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:27,320 The automaker faces intense competition from Chinese 26 00:01:27,320 --> 00:01:31,760 manufacturers like who have captured significant market 27 00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:36,640 share with lower priced EVs. And Tesla reported a 14% year 28 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:39,400 over year decline in vehicle deliveries during the second 29 00:01:39,400 --> 00:01:41,960 quarter, missing analyst expectations. 30 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:45,200 The company needs its CEO focused on product development 31 00:01:45,440 --> 00:01:49,800 and manufacturing efficiency rather than building a political 32 00:01:49,880 --> 00:01:52,400 movement. Now, if you have a podcast 33 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:54,880 platform right now, if you're on one right now that has comments, 34 00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:57,600 I need you to leave a comment about this. 35 00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:00,400 Do you think Elon Musk is in the right here? 36 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:04,320 Should he be buying off senators and buying off people in 37 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:10,240 politics to get his basically to get his way and it pushed 38 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:12,760 through his agenda? Should we keep money out of 39 00:02:12,760 --> 00:02:15,200 politics? Should politics be pure? 40 00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:17,600 It's up to you to decide. Let's build this community 41 00:02:17,600 --> 00:02:22,200 together now. I asked about a week ago for 42 00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:26,560 some help and I really meant it and I really do appreciate 43 00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:30,800 everybody who helped out when I asked for it because right now 44 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:36,480 as it is, this podcast needs as much help as possible to 45 00:02:36,480 --> 00:02:38,640 continue doing what we do every single day. 46 00:02:38,640 --> 00:02:43,040 I produce a podcast every single day about Elon Musk and I've 47 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:47,360 been doing it for the last four years, over 1000 episodes. 48 00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:51,080 And I'm dedicated to this and I will continue to be dedicated to 49 00:02:51,080 --> 00:02:53,200 this. But I absolutely need your help. 50 00:02:53,200 --> 00:02:56,080 I'm going to like, I don't do this ever, really. 51 00:02:56,080 --> 00:02:57,880 I did it once before and that was last week. 52 00:02:57,880 --> 00:03:01,480 But I absolutely need your help. We're in dire straits here with 53 00:03:01,480 --> 00:03:06,440 the show might not continue on. And if you could help us out, 54 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:13,520 the easy freeway to do that is to like this podcast in a way by 55 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:18,240 subscribing or following the show, but also, you know, we 56 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:19,600 need money to keep the lights on. 57 00:03:20,280 --> 00:03:27,960 So if you can, Venmo, Wil Dash, WALDON, any amount would be 58 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:30,720 helpful. I greatly appreciated everybody 59 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:35,040 that did it last week. That was the best thing. 60 00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:38,680 Opening up my app in the afternoon after this episode 61 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:42,000 dropped and seeing all of your support really did help me 62 00:03:42,520 --> 00:03:47,200 continue doing these shows. And you know, it's not free to 63 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:49,560 do this. It takes a lot of effort, takes 64 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:52,440 a lot of time. So in the equipment is 65 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:55,920 expensive, etcetera. So thank you so much for all of 66 00:03:55,920 --> 00:03:59,840 your support. But let's get back to Elon Musk 67 00:03:59,880 --> 00:04:05,960 and his America Party, and wow, it's it's wild that the Tesla 68 00:04:05,960 --> 00:04:09,160 stock dropped because of it. Now Dan Ives, who is the global 69 00:04:09,160 --> 00:04:12,600 head of technology research at Wedbush Securities, captured 70 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:14,680 investor sentiment on a Sunday research note. 71 00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:18,880 I've stated that Musk diving deeper into politics and now 72 00:04:18,880 --> 00:04:22,280 trying to take on the Beltway establishment is exactly the 73 00:04:22,320 --> 00:04:26,320 opposite direction that Tesla investors and shareholders want 74 00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:28,480 him to take during this crucial period. 75 00:04:28,480 --> 00:04:31,760 For Tesla, it's a broader sense of exhaustion. 76 00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:35,240 For many Tesla investors, the Musk keeps heading down the 77 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:38,360 political track. The Musk relationship with 78 00:04:38,480 --> 00:04:42,560 President Donald Trump has deteriorated significantly since 79 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:46,000 their initial collaboration. The Tesla CEO worked closely 80 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:50,200 with Trump through DOGE in early 2025 before leaving in May. 81 00:04:51,040 --> 00:04:54,240 The partnership soured over disagreements about federal 82 00:04:54,240 --> 00:04:57,480 spending bills, with Musk arguing that Trump's proposals 83 00:04:57,480 --> 00:04:59,880 would dramatically increase America's debt burden. 84 00:05:00,640 --> 00:05:04,040 Now, he's particularly criticized cuts tax credits for 85 00:05:04,040 --> 00:05:06,800 solar energy, wind power and EVs. 86 00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:10,720 And President Trump responded in kind to Musk's announcement on 87 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:13,960 Sunday by calling the new political party ridiculous. 88 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:17,560 Trump accused the test the CEO, of going completely off the 89 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:21,400 rails and suggests this the move represented a personal vendetta 90 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:23,480 rather than genuine political conviction. 91 00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:27,320 Now, the president's harsh reaction indicates the depth of 92 00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:32,040 their falling out after months of public disputes over energy 93 00:05:32,040 --> 00:05:35,360 policy and government spending. White House sources suggest 94 00:05:35,360 --> 00:05:38,800 Trump views Musk's party as a direct challenge to his 95 00:05:38,800 --> 00:05:42,720 administration's agenda. Now, Elon Musk said he could be 96 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:46,800 around and his party would be around for centuries. 97 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:53,200 Donald Trump will only be around for about 3 more years because 98 00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:55,800 Elon Musk has billions of dollars to put behind this. 99 00:05:56,000 --> 00:05:58,600 If that's all he does is create a fund for this party. 100 00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:03,840 It will be around until long after we're all dead and after 101 00:06:03,840 --> 00:06:06,480 our kids are gone and their kids are gone and their kids are 102 00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:09,360 gone. And Elon Musk's legacy could 103 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:11,480 live on through this America party. 104 00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:15,480 The timing of this political announcement from Elon Musk 105 00:06:16,320 --> 00:06:19,080 creates additional pressure for Tesla during a critical period. 106 00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:23,680 Chinese competitors BYD Neo have expanded rapidly in 107 00:06:23,680 --> 00:06:26,680 international markets, which Elon Musk and Tesla are trying 108 00:06:26,680 --> 00:06:29,120 to take over. The companies benefit from lower 109 00:06:29,120 --> 00:06:31,800 manufacturing costs and government subsidies that allow 110 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:35,720 aggressive pricing strategies. They're pushing Tesla out, and 111 00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:39,040 Tesla must defeat them in every market. 112 00:06:39,040 --> 00:06:41,800 They must defend its market position while simultaneously 113 00:06:41,800 --> 00:06:44,880 investing billions in new battery tech and autonomous 114 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:48,440 driving and capabilities. No, we have to worry about 115 00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:51,720 political activities, and it'll consume the time and attention 116 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:54,200 of Musk. That's the attention that he 117 00:06:54,200 --> 00:06:56,760 needs to dedicate to Tesla's operational challenges. 118 00:06:57,080 --> 00:06:59,920 The company faces production bottlenecks at its newer 119 00:06:59,920 --> 00:07:04,760 facilities in Texas and Germany. Supply line disruptions continue 120 00:07:04,760 --> 00:07:07,280 to affect battery cell availability and semiconductor 121 00:07:07,280 --> 00:07:09,680 procurement. Tesla's engineering teams 122 00:07:09,680 --> 00:07:13,600 require executive leadership to make crucial decisions about 123 00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:16,160 next generation vehicle platforms and manufacturing 124 00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:18,720 processes. And if Elon Musk is out there 125 00:07:18,720 --> 00:07:24,400 doing other things politically, he can't be with the Tesla 126 00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:27,320 employees. Think about it, for a while when 127 00:07:27,320 --> 00:07:31,640 he was at DOGE, there were some Tesla employees that just said 128 00:07:31,640 --> 00:07:35,200 we want Elon back. You know, we're here because we 129 00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:39,040 believe in Elon, we believe in Tesla, but more so, we believe 130 00:07:39,040 --> 00:07:42,480 in Elon Musk and his vision for the future of Tesla. 131 00:07:43,120 --> 00:07:44,920 We love the technology ourselves. 132 00:07:45,280 --> 00:07:46,840 We build the technology every day. 133 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:50,520 We want to continue working here, but without Elon. 134 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:55,280 Elon's the spark that keeps this place going, and that's how they 135 00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:58,040 feel about this, too. The formation of this new 136 00:07:58,040 --> 00:08:01,160 political party requires substantial financial resources. 137 00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:03,640 They get organizational infrastructure. 138 00:08:04,120 --> 00:08:07,280 And if Musk would need to recruit new candidates for this, 139 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:09,960 it's going to take the time away from Tesla and his other 140 00:08:09,960 --> 00:08:13,040 companies like SpaceX, Boring Company, Neuron, like it's going 141 00:08:13,040 --> 00:08:16,840 to take all the time away from them just so he can dip his toe 142 00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:20,120 into politics again. Political consultants estimate 143 00:08:20,200 --> 00:08:23,640 that competitive congressional races typically require millions 144 00:08:23,640 --> 00:08:26,920 of dollars in campaign spending. Could he hire people to do these 145 00:08:26,920 --> 00:08:28,160 jobs for him? Of course. 146 00:08:28,160 --> 00:08:30,960 But it's going to take him time in order to hire these people. 147 00:08:32,640 --> 00:08:35,400 His involvement in this would likely trigger scrutiny from 148 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:38,880 federal election regulators, of course, because he's their 149 00:08:38,880 --> 00:08:42,600 opposition. Now, there's two parties, which 150 00:08:42,720 --> 00:08:44,120 pretty much they all talk to each other. 151 00:08:44,120 --> 00:08:46,880 They're all buddy, buddy. If you've ever seen any videos, 152 00:08:46,880 --> 00:08:51,120 the left and the right, Donald Trump hangs out with Barack 153 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:58,040 Obama, Bill Clinton, you know, Hillary Clinton too. 154 00:08:58,040 --> 00:09:01,360 You'd see them all together. It's kind of funny how they 155 00:09:01,800 --> 00:09:05,240 pretend that there's two sides, but they're all the same thing 156 00:09:05,240 --> 00:09:07,680 almost. I'm an American. 157 00:09:07,680 --> 00:09:08,880 I've been an American my whole life. 158 00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:15,720 I was born here and it's pretty blatantly obvious. 159 00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:20,640 Blatantly obvious if you look at it from up on high. 160 00:09:21,320 --> 00:09:24,560 These people are in it together and it's all a dog and pony 161 00:09:24,560 --> 00:09:26,960 show, man. And I'm just saying this as a 162 00:09:26,960 --> 00:09:31,600 person who looks at things from a different perspective, as 163 00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:36,200 somebody who I don't affiliate myself with the party, affiliate 164 00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:38,200 myself with people who are good people. 165 00:09:39,400 --> 00:09:43,200 And everybody that's a politician that I've seen 166 00:09:43,280 --> 00:09:47,880 recently, they just, they're in it for themselves, They're in it 167 00:09:47,880 --> 00:09:50,920 for their team. And if their team wins, that's 168 00:09:50,920 --> 00:09:53,440 great, right? So Elon has his own team now, 169 00:09:53,440 --> 00:09:57,320 his third party and the formation of this new party, 170 00:09:57,320 --> 00:09:59,280 it's going to take a lot of resources. 171 00:09:59,280 --> 00:10:02,960 Tesla shareholder holders don't want to lose Elon. 172 00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:06,600 They remember the negative impact of Musk's previous 173 00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:09,120 political ventures on the company's brand of the sales. 174 00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:12,520 His association with Doge alienated customers. 175 00:10:12,520 --> 00:10:16,680 They started burning down his facilities and his Tesla 176 00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:23,760 showrooms because they didn't want him to be ripping apart the 177 00:10:23,760 --> 00:10:27,080 government and the subsidies for people that need it. 178 00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:33,400 There were protests everywhere. Millions of people marched 179 00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:40,720 against Elon Musk just months ago to get him out of the White 180 00:10:40,720 --> 00:10:42,120 House and get him away from Trump. 181 00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:45,600 And now is this just smoke and mirrors by Elon? 182 00:10:45,680 --> 00:10:50,960 Think about it for a minute. Elon and Trump, they're both 183 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:53,400 egotistical. You have to know that. 184 00:10:55,160 --> 00:10:58,160 If you don't know that, if you don't think Elon is egotistical, 185 00:10:58,160 --> 00:11:02,160 you don't think he has sociopathic means. 186 00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:08,480 I mean, he's said himself that empathy is a shortcoming. 187 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:10,360 He doesn't hire people with empathy. 188 00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:12,840 He doesn't want people with empathy next to him. 189 00:11:14,200 --> 00:11:15,680 He doesn't want people to use their feelings. 190 00:11:15,680 --> 00:11:17,520 He wants them to just crank out work. 191 00:11:18,600 --> 00:11:21,800 So him himself, himself, does he have some empathy? 192 00:11:21,800 --> 00:11:28,720 He might, but he's a savage in business. 193 00:11:28,960 --> 00:11:34,680 Absolute savage. Shareholders don't want him to 194 00:11:34,680 --> 00:11:37,080 go away. Shareholders don't want him to 195 00:11:37,080 --> 00:11:41,800 use the same time that he used for DOGE for this new party. 196 00:11:42,640 --> 00:11:46,000 They want their money. If you're a shareholder in 197 00:11:46,000 --> 00:11:49,920 Tesla, you want to cash out. You don't want anything to get 198 00:11:49,920 --> 00:11:53,840 in your way of getting that big paycheck because 1, you aren't 199 00:11:53,840 --> 00:11:57,600 building Teslas, you aren't building the company. 200 00:11:58,280 --> 00:12:00,760 You put your money into it and you gambled on Elon. 201 00:12:02,880 --> 00:12:08,200 You put $100,000 on Elon years ago, maybe you have $1,000,000 202 00:12:08,200 --> 00:12:09,800 now. Maybe you want that $1,000,000 203 00:12:09,800 --> 00:12:15,720 to go to 4,000,005 million, 6,000,007 million because fully 204 00:12:15,720 --> 00:12:21,040 autonomous car service, fully autonomous Uber style cyber 205 00:12:21,040 --> 00:12:24,040 cabs. Who wouldn't want to do that? 206 00:12:24,040 --> 00:12:27,240 That's a continuous stream of money 24/7. 207 00:12:28,120 --> 00:12:31,320 That's you just making bank all the time. 208 00:12:32,600 --> 00:12:34,400 Uber, think about the money that Uber makes. 209 00:12:35,120 --> 00:12:40,640 Add that to the Tesla portfolio and also add in the way MO 210 00:12:40,640 --> 00:12:46,000 money, add in the Lyft money all around the world and then you 211 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:49,000 don't pay the drivers either. So you get a ride and you don't 212 00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:50,400 pay the drivers. You just have a car. 213 00:12:51,080 --> 00:12:54,160 Think about all that money. And then also the robotics, not 214 00:12:54,160 --> 00:12:56,760 just the Tesla robot, but the robotics that Tesla could 215 00:12:56,760 --> 00:13:01,440 eventually build in the AI that they can license self driving 216 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:05,240 technology, proprietary self self driving technology that 217 00:13:05,240 --> 00:13:07,560 they could license to other competitors. 218 00:13:08,960 --> 00:13:11,440 But if you have some money into Tesla, you want that money to 219 00:13:11,440 --> 00:13:15,680 continue to grow over your lifetime or over next few years 220 00:13:15,680 --> 00:13:18,960 or so. And if Elon is out doing things 221 00:13:18,960 --> 00:13:21,720 in politics, you don't think he's paying attention to Tesla, 222 00:13:21,720 --> 00:13:24,680 do you? Can he do everything? 223 00:13:24,760 --> 00:13:27,400 I don't know. SpaceX is having a tough time. 224 00:13:27,480 --> 00:13:30,400 SpaceX is blowing up rockets left and right down to Starbase. 225 00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:40,080 3 or 4 Starships have blown up mid air because there weren't 226 00:13:40,480 --> 00:13:44,280 protocols in place for them to fix the issues how they thought 227 00:13:44,280 --> 00:13:46,840 they fixed the issues. Of course it's a listen, it's a 228 00:13:47,560 --> 00:13:50,080 it's a prototype. We all know it's a prototype. 229 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:53,200 Starship is a prototype. Things like this will happen but 230 00:13:53,200 --> 00:13:57,560 not the same thing repeatedly. And that's why there's an 231 00:13:57,560 --> 00:14:03,560 investigation on Starship right now and why it's exploding not 232 00:14:03,560 --> 00:14:10,560 just from Elon and SpaceX, but also from the government. 233 00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:18,480 Yes, I think the shareholders are correct in assuming that 234 00:14:18,480 --> 00:14:21,040 Elon Musk will be taking attention away from his Tesla 235 00:14:22,080 --> 00:14:24,160 duties. But on Monday, the stock price 236 00:14:24,160 --> 00:14:28,720 declined and erased billions in market value and pushed Tesla 237 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:33,200 closer to Technical Support levels that traders monitor now. 238 00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:38,280 The shares fell as much as 7.3% in early trading before 239 00:14:38,280 --> 00:14:42,840 recovering a little bit midday. Still down by the end of the 240 00:14:42,840 --> 00:14:44,040 day. Now. 241 00:14:45,800 --> 00:14:50,480 Elon stated goal of creating a kingmaker party in Congress 242 00:14:50,480 --> 00:14:54,880 faces obstacles to third parties historically struggle in 243 00:14:54,880 --> 00:14:59,640 America's two party system due to ballot access requirements, 244 00:14:59,640 --> 00:15:03,400 fundraising disadvantages which he doesn't have and strategic 245 00:15:03,400 --> 00:15:07,000 voting patterns. But we have AI, we have Grok, we 246 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:08,720 have XAI to take care of that right. 247 00:15:09,040 --> 00:15:12,240 Political scientists point to a failure of previous billionaire 248 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:16,360 funded third party efforts. Ross Perot, remember that guy he 249 00:15:16,360 --> 00:15:21,560 was in the Reform Party and also remember Michael Bloomberg had 250 00:15:21,560 --> 00:15:25,840 various independent initiatives. Now, the America Party, Elon's 251 00:15:25,840 --> 00:15:29,000 America Party, we need to overcome everything that they 252 00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:32,840 couldn't do. Ross Perot had ungodly amounts 253 00:15:32,840 --> 00:15:34,760 of money. Michael Bloomberg, same thing. 254 00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:39,200 Can you do it? I mean, if anybody could, it 255 00:15:39,200 --> 00:15:42,160 probably be probably be Elon. He might be able to crack the 256 00:15:42,160 --> 00:15:46,920 code. But we will see if it does 257 00:15:47,080 --> 00:15:51,480 really hurt Tesla, could the board kick him off? 258 00:15:51,480 --> 00:15:54,000 Just I don't know if it's up in the air right now. 259 00:15:55,360 --> 00:15:58,520 And that's another variable to Tesla's complex investment 260 00:15:58,520 --> 00:16:01,720 thesis. We got a factor in political 261 00:16:02,120 --> 00:16:05,320 risk alongside traditional metrics like vehicle deliveries, 262 00:16:05,320 --> 00:16:07,800 gross margins and technology development. 263 00:16:08,680 --> 00:16:13,840 And we don't want to away from the traditional metrics. 264 00:16:16,680 --> 00:16:20,440 You know, people may start reducing Tesla holdings to avoid 265 00:16:20,440 --> 00:16:23,560 exposure or unpredictable political developments. 266 00:16:23,560 --> 00:16:28,600 It's not safe if Elon's try to take on big government, you 267 00:16:28,600 --> 00:16:32,640 know, if he's trying to take on the Republican Party, somebody 268 00:16:32,640 --> 00:16:34,720 who can be nasty, Donald Trump can be nasty. 269 00:16:36,040 --> 00:16:38,920 Taking on the Democratic Party, they could be nasty, too. 270 00:16:40,280 --> 00:16:41,960 And if you're going to fight against them, you're going to 271 00:16:41,960 --> 00:16:43,640 take their power and their money away. 272 00:16:43,960 --> 00:16:46,840 Oh, they will fight you, you know. 273 00:16:46,840 --> 00:16:50,800 The company's board of directors faces pressure to address 274 00:16:50,800 --> 00:16:55,360 shareholder concerns now about Elon Musk's focus and corporate 275 00:16:55,360 --> 00:17:00,200 governance of Tesla. But does he want to fight both 276 00:17:00,200 --> 00:17:02,240 parties? I mean, he's in it to win it, 277 00:17:02,240 --> 00:17:06,079 right? We're going to see. 278 00:17:06,079 --> 00:17:10,040 But with Elon launching this America party and Tesla 279 00:17:10,040 --> 00:17:14,280 struggling a little bit with competitive pressures raises 280 00:17:14,280 --> 00:17:17,359 fundamental questions about his responsibility in Tesla. 281 00:17:18,400 --> 00:17:22,640 The 7% stock decline reflects investor skepticism. 282 00:17:23,319 --> 00:17:27,359 People just don't really want it, you know, they just don't 283 00:17:27,359 --> 00:17:30,160 want his political stuff. They just want their money to 284 00:17:30,160 --> 00:17:32,120 make money for them. That's why they invested. 285 00:17:32,120 --> 00:17:34,240 They believe in Tesla, they believe in the vision, they 286 00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:37,080 believe in Elon, but they didn't sign up for this. 287 00:17:37,080 --> 00:17:41,200 And that's why some people either sold their stock or just 288 00:17:41,200 --> 00:17:42,920 didn't invest as much this time around. 289 00:17:44,880 --> 00:17:48,400 They need focus right now. They need focused execution to 290 00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:54,640 maintain the position as the top EV company in the United States. 291 00:17:55,400 --> 00:18:00,120 Hyundai's coming for them. BYD, you know, in other 292 00:18:00,120 --> 00:18:04,240 countries. So Elon going to do his 293 00:18:04,240 --> 00:18:07,920 political party and maybe it's going to hurt Tesla little bit. 294 00:18:07,920 --> 00:18:12,080 Tesla's very, very, very well priced right now. 295 00:18:12,080 --> 00:18:13,640 Let's just say that. I'm going to say it's 296 00:18:13,640 --> 00:18:18,720 overpriced, but the only place it could go is up from here. 297 00:18:19,960 --> 00:18:21,880 It's a technology company. It's not a car company. 298 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:23,960 It's an AI company. It's not a car company. 299 00:18:24,360 --> 00:18:27,000 It's a robot company. It's not a car company anymore. 300 00:18:28,440 --> 00:18:30,400 Elon Musk. But remember, I want to, I want 301 00:18:30,400 --> 00:18:34,440 you to remember this too. Elon Musk, when it was favorable 302 00:18:34,440 --> 00:18:38,280 for him to be on the side of progressive Democrats. 303 00:18:39,520 --> 00:18:43,560 He was a progressive Democrat. And this is for business. 304 00:18:43,840 --> 00:18:47,080 He did this for business. He was part of the Green 305 00:18:47,080 --> 00:18:49,520 Initiative. That's why people bought into 306 00:18:49,520 --> 00:18:51,760 Tesla. Great marketing. 307 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:55,600 I thought it was cool. I don't want to go to the gas 308 00:18:55,600 --> 00:18:58,560 pump anymore. I want a self-sustaining vehicle 309 00:18:58,560 --> 00:19:01,760 that I could charge at my house. Why would I want to pay all 310 00:19:01,760 --> 00:19:04,800 these oil companies all this money when I could just plug my 311 00:19:04,800 --> 00:19:06,960 car in at night, let it trickle charge overnight? 312 00:19:07,600 --> 00:19:12,400 That sounds like a great idea. And then when Trump got into 313 00:19:12,400 --> 00:19:15,560 office, like before that, he could see the the winds of 314 00:19:15,560 --> 00:19:18,240 change shifting. So his mindset shifted to the 315 00:19:18,240 --> 00:19:22,200 Republican Party. He was all in hundreds of 316 00:19:22,200 --> 00:19:26,400 millions of dollars, almost $400 million into the Trump campaign, 317 00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:35,200 amongst other campaigns full in. And now because that's not 318 00:19:35,200 --> 00:19:39,120 favorable anymore, mainly because people started burning 319 00:19:39,120 --> 00:19:43,200 down Tesla showrooms, people worth having, millions of 320 00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:46,080 people, millions of people were marching against him. 321 00:19:48,120 --> 00:19:53,000 He saw the shift again and he's moving to his own political 322 00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:55,240 party. So he's not part of the 323 00:19:55,240 --> 00:19:58,280 Republican Party or part of the Democratic Party. 324 00:19:59,240 --> 00:20:02,600 He's going to do his own thing. I want you to take a step back. 325 00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:04,480 Don't think about your own party. 326 00:20:04,480 --> 00:20:07,080 If you're Republican, you can always be a Republican. 327 00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:09,120 If you're a Democrat, you can always be a Democrat. 328 00:20:11,240 --> 00:20:13,560 But step back, Look at what he did. 329 00:20:13,720 --> 00:20:18,160 Look at his timeline. Just think to yourself, why is 330 00:20:18,160 --> 00:20:21,360 he doing this party? Is he doing it so he can get 331 00:20:21,360 --> 00:20:26,480 some power back, maybe some power back so he can pass the 332 00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:29,760 legislation that he needs, so he can get subsidies for Tesla, so 333 00:20:29,760 --> 00:20:34,800 he can continue building Tesla into the most influential 334 00:20:34,800 --> 00:20:39,880 company of all time, and also those subsidies for SpaceX? 335 00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:45,000 Just take a step back. We're going to have another 336 00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:48,320 episode about all that in the coming days. 337 00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:52,040 So again, thank you so much for listening. 338 00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:56,640 I appreciate you 100%. If you want to support the show, 339 00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:08,880 please make a donation on Venmo at Wil Dash WALDON. 340 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:14,080 Any amount helps, whether it's a dollar, five dollars, $10, leave 341 00:21:14,080 --> 00:21:17,680 a little note. I'll let you know, you know, 342 00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:18,720 I'll let you know how it's going. 343 00:21:18,720 --> 00:21:23,320 I'll write back to you. If you have a, a comment, let me 344 00:21:23,320 --> 00:21:24,800 know. That's a good way to get a hold 345 00:21:24,800 --> 00:21:27,560 of me directly. And then I'll read your comment. 346 00:21:27,560 --> 00:21:31,320 I'll read about, you know, what you, what you said on the air, 347 00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:34,920 if you have anything to say and just let me know that you want 348 00:21:34,920 --> 00:21:38,000 me to read it on the air. And I will gladly do that for 349 00:21:38,000 --> 00:21:39,720 you. As long as it's within reason, 350 00:21:39,920 --> 00:21:44,360 of course. And let's just let's just do one 351 00:21:44,360 --> 00:21:50,360 from last time. Let's just say from JW, you know 352 00:21:50,360 --> 00:21:53,880 who you are. JW Thanks for the show. 353 00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:58,320 I'll try to make this regular, make this a regular donation. 354 00:21:58,680 --> 00:22:04,160 JW Thank you so much. And then we have B. 355 00:22:04,160 --> 00:22:09,360 I'm just using letters. So BR thanks, Will, for 356 00:22:09,360 --> 00:22:13,600 everything you do. I appreciate all the time you 357 00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:17,080 put into the show. Love it, keep it going. 358 00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:25,200 And then they donated $35. I was, I'm so touched by this. 359 00:22:25,200 --> 00:22:27,000 That's only two of them, though. There were more. 360 00:22:27,720 --> 00:22:31,160 And I can talk about those in another episode. 361 00:22:31,680 --> 00:22:34,160 So if you want to, if you want your message read, if you have a 362 00:22:34,160 --> 00:22:38,560 question, Venmo at Will Dash Walden, that's me. 363 00:22:38,560 --> 00:22:42,600 Will Walden. I'm your host and I'll let you 364 00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:46,200 know let you know how it goes and I'll read your note on the 365 00:22:46,240 --> 00:22:48,160 air. We'll start the shows with those 366 00:22:48,160 --> 00:22:50,720 in the future. OK, That's that's my promise to 367 00:22:50,720 --> 00:22:52,920 you. We'll start that coming up in 368 00:22:52,920 --> 00:22:58,440 the next few days. Questions to me, put them out 369 00:22:58,440 --> 00:23:00,080 first. Could be about Elon, could be 370 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:01,240 about Tesla, could be about SpaceX. 371 00:23:01,240 --> 00:23:04,120 Just let me know. All right, everybody, thank you 372 00:23:04,120 --> 00:23:07,360 so much. Hey, thank you so much for 373 00:23:07,360 --> 00:23:09,560 listening today. I really do appreciate your 374 00:23:09,560 --> 00:23:11,120 support. If you could take a second and 375 00:23:11,120 --> 00:23:14,080 hit the subscribe or the follow button on whatever podcast 376 00:23:14,080 --> 00:23:17,080 platform that you're listening on right now, I greatly 377 00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:18,720 appreciate it. It helps out the show 378 00:23:18,720 --> 00:23:21,360 tremendously and you'll never miss an episode. 379 00:23:21,560 --> 00:23:24,960 And each episode is about 10 minutes or less to get you 380 00:23:24,960 --> 00:23:27,680 caught up quickly. And please, if you want to 381 00:23:27,680 --> 00:23:33,800 support the show even more, go to patreon.com/stagezero and 382 00:23:33,800 --> 00:23:36,240 please take care of yourselves and each other and I'll see you 383 00:23:36,240 --> 00:23:36,760 tomorrow.