Hey everybody. Welcome back to the Elon Musk
Podcast. This is a show where we discuss
the critical crossroads, The Shape, SpaceX, Tesla X, The
Boring Company, and Neurolink. And I'm your host, Will Walden.
If you want uninterrupted episodes of the Elon Musk
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notes. Tesla, once the darling of eco
conscious tech enthusiasts, now finds itself at the center of a
national brawl. And not a metaphorical kind.
Showrooms have been torched. Vehicles have been keyed, spray
painted, even shot at. Molotov cocktails, arrests and
armed police patrols now mingle with showroom models and
promotional banners. The damage is real, the mode is
murky, and the questions only pile up.
Is this about Elon Musk's politics?
Is Tesla being punished for a CE OS involvement in government
cost cutting? Or is this simply what happens
when a high profile billionaire takes signs in America's endless
culture war? Now, whatever the truth is, one
thing's clear. Tesla's going through something
and it's not just another bad quarter.
Eliana Musk hasn't been shy about why he thinks this is
happening. In his telling, Tesla is under
assault because of his role in the Trump administration's
Department of Government Efficiency, also known as DOGE,
and it tesks itself with rooting out wasteful federal spending.
And Musk has taken the job seriously.
You know, apparently Elon is taking it way too seriously now,
Musk said on Fox News. They basically want to kill me
because I'm stopping their fraud, and they want to hurt
Tesla because we're stopping the terrible waste and corruption in
the government. Now that's a bold accusation
without evidence, but one that fits neatly into the narrative
that Musk has been building that his political involvement has
made him a target and Tesla is now collateral damage to fight
back. Tesla is rolling out A2 pronged
response. First, the company has beefed up
security at dealerships, including visible police
presence at some locations, and one such example is the Las
Vegas showroom on Sahara Blvd. now guarded by officers from the
Las Vegas Metro Police Department.
Second, Tesla is fully deploying its Sentry Mode technology
across all vehicles system that uses onboard cameras to monitor
and record suspicious activity, effectively turning every part
Tesla into its own surveillance outpost.
And the text is already paying off.
On March 20th, Musk posted footage captured by a Tesla
Sentry Mode showing a man carving a swastika into the
paint of one of his vehicles. That man was later arrested and
if convicted, could face up to 18 months in prison.
Musk responded in characteristically blunt
fashion. Not smart to attack Tesla's
subtlety as always, not his strong suit.
The social media has turned into a war zone on its own with users
from X and rival platforms like Blue Sky trading accusations and
conspiracy theories. Tesla Radia, Tesla Focus news
outlet summed it up bluntly. They said it is literal insanity
that we have cops guarding Tesla dealers because people can't
have a different opinion in peace now.
What was once a company showroom is now a symbol in a larger
political fight, complete with law enforcement arrests and
ideological clashes. Some of the fury appears to stem
from the so-called Tesla Takedown movement.
Originally organized on Blue Sky, the campaign calls on Tesla
owners to sell their vehicles and ditch the company's stock in
protests of Musk's political affiliations, not just hashtags
and slogans. Now, demonstrators have shown up
outside Tesla stores, coordinating protests worldwide,
and even launched a website that maps protest locations.
For Tesla owners caught in the middle, it's becoming an
uncomfortable situation. Not only are they worried about
physical damage to their vehicles, but some are also
facing a strange kind of social backlash.
One sticker gaining popularity among Tesla drivers read.
I bought this before we knew Elon was crazy.
It's a meme, but it speaks to something real, a sense of kind
of a buyer's remorse rooted not in product quality but in
association with Elon Musk. Now there are financial
ramifications, too. Tesla shares have already slid
about 45% this year. Yet despite the public chaos,
Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Andres Shepard recently upgraded
Tesla's stock after visiting the company's Cortex EI centers and
its Gigafactory in Texas. Shepherd saw material catalysts
on the horizon, namely the gnawing anticipated robo taxi
roll out scheduled for June in Austin.
If the technology lives up to the billing, it could jolt the
stock back up. But in the meantime, these
glimmers of future success are being overshadowed by a wave of
political blowback and security headaches.
From a legal standpoint, the response is escalating fast.
President Trump has publicly declared he might classify the
dealership attacks as acts of domestic terrorism, he said.
They're bad guys. They're the same guys who screw
around with our schools and universities.
We're going to catch you and you're going to go through hell.
How colorful, as always. But the message is clear.
The administration plans to treat these incidents not just
as vandalism but as threats to national security.
And the Justice Department followed soon on March 19th.
That formally designated the vandalism spree as nothing short
of domestic terrorism. That designation opens the door
for more aggressive prosecutions and harsher penalties, including
the use of anti terrorism statutes.
Now, for suspects, that means the possibility of longer
sentences, higher bail and less leniency and plea deals.
And police departments from across multiple states have
already made arrests. In Colorado, one woman faces
several charges, including use of explosives during a felony
after allegedly targeting a Tesla facility.
These aren't misdemeanor slaps on the wrist, though.
This has real consequences. And it suggests that local law
enforcement is fully aligned with the federal crackdown.
And while Tesla tries to secure its real estate, must also
confront an intangible but no less dangerous threat.
Reputational fallout. For many, driving a Tesla now
feels like a political statement, one they never signed
up for. This isn't just brand
polarization, it's literal danger for customers.
Some owners are now hiding their cars and garages or removing
Tesla logos altogether, trying to avoid becoming the next
target. And the company's public image
is further complicated by Musk's personal remarks during the same
Fox News appearance, he said. I always thought that the left,
you know, Democrats were supposed to be the party of
empathy, the party of caring. And yet the burning down cars,
the firebombing dealerships, the firing bullets at a dealerships,
the smashing up Teslas, Now it's a clear attempt to draw a Direct
Line between political affiliation and criminal
activity, which is a tactic that risks alienating potential
customers as much as it rallies his base.
And even inside the protest movement as concerned about the
optics, organizers who claim their opposition is peaceful now
face the challenge of disassociating from criminal
behaviors. The Tesla takedown may have
started as a symbolic protest, but the violence threatens to
hijack its message. Once firebombs are involved, the
lines between activism and extremism are blurred, and that
has legal, moral and strategic consequences.
Some analysts think the situation could force Tesla to
change how it does business. Beyond more cameras and more
police, the company may have to invest in entirely new systems.
Maybe drone patrols, panic alert buttons, hardened dealership
designs, or even remote determines like noise or light
cannons. Those are all absurd.
But you know, the times where they've been are pretty absurd.
People are firebombing. Test the showrooms.
It's an evolution of a car company, but it's also the
evolution of a movement against Elon Musk.
Tesla's internal staff is also at risk.
Showing room employees, mechanics and service
technicians are now kind of unofficial security guards,
often without training. Company may need to start
offering hazard pay, insurance coverage, or even trauma
counseling. Not exactly standard perks in
the car business. And every dollar spent
protecting infrastructure was the dollar not spent on
manufacturing. And the time they spend on these
issues is not spend on making better vehicles, R&D,
manufacturing, or market expansion.
Now at the root of all this remains Musk's rolling Doge role
that draws enemies reeled or perceived.
Since January, Doge has investigated programs like
Social Security for waste and fraud must consists the
backlashes orchestrated by people who benefit from the
so-called fraudulent spending. But no proof has been provided
by Yulan. It's an allegation that fits his
political rhetoric, but it doesn't replace the need for
evidence. What's not in dispute is the
risk faced by ordinary people, people working at Tesla, the
people driving Tesla cars. Whether you're a Tesla
enthusiast, an investor, or just someone who happened to buy a
Tesla way back in 2021 because of a good lease deal, you're now
part of something bigger. Not by choice, though, and not
with much warning. But the minute your vehicle
became a symbol, your garage became a potential battleground.
Now, Tesla's still a business, and it needs to find a way to
keep selling cars without turning E sale into a political
Rorschach test. The company's next step will
likely include possibly more security and more PR positive
PR. But what it needs more is less
chaos. For now, that seems a long way
off though. These protests will continue as
long as Elon is involved with the government and Trump.
Now, political protests are happening against Elon.
They're spiraling into violent vandalism, prompting the company
and the government to respond with countermeasures, arrests
and new questions about the cost of political engagement in
corporate leadership by Elon Musk and Tesla.
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