It all started with a cheese hat.
Then came the $20 million political misfire, a tanking
quarter for Tesla, and now whispers from MAGA loyalists
urging Donald Trump to quietly sideline Elon Musk.
How did the world's richest man go from tech Messiah to
political liability and corporate anchor in just 24
hours? Now his mounting defeats, a more
than a billionaire's bad week, the rewarding about unchecked
ego, messy alliances and what happens when Elon Musk mistake
noise for influence. On Tuesday, Musk's political
gamble in Wisconsin exploded spectacularly, betting big $20
million big on a far right candidate for the state Supreme
Court. Now Musk showed up at a rally in
Green Bay donning a giant goofy cheese hat, checkbook in hand
and hope in his eyes. The stunt was pure Musk,
headline chasing and full of bravado.
It also didn't work at all. The liberal leaning court
retained its 43 majority, rejecting not just the candidate
but Musk's overt display of wealth and persuasion.
He handed out $2,000,000 checks to supporters on site, an act
that drew immediate legal scrutiny.
Now, buying influence in court races isn't just distasteful.
In some states, it borders on illegal.
Elon found a way around this, though, and this loss might have
stung more if it stood alone. But hours later, Tesla delivered
even worse news. The company posted a 13% drop in
sales for the first quarter, the sharpest decline in the
company's history. Now, that number was made even
more humiliating by the context. Its top competitor, BYD, saw its
revenue jump 60% over the same period.
Now, the contrast couldn't have been more direct or damning.
Investors quickly punished Tesla stock, driving it down 6% in a
matter of hours. Now, Tesla's slump is about more
than earnings, though. It reveals the company that's
straining under poor leadership, distracting direction and a
fraying identity. Musk, who once charmed a loyal
base of environmentally conscious early adopters.
His alienated much of that support by veering hard right
politically. Coastal progressives, very
demographic that gave Tesla its cool factor or abandoning the
brand. And Musk hasn't figured out how
to replace them. His solution?
Embrace RedState buyers who have long rejected electric vehicles.
And it's not going well for Tesla right now.
And the Commerce secretary's awkward pitch urging America's
people to buy Tesla stock seemed like a panicked attempt to
counteract cratering confidence in the brand.
A bizarre live sales event at the White House lawn with Trump
present came across as more desperate than strategic.
Then the FBI jumped in. Announcing they might prosecute
Tesla vandals is domestic terrorists.
This is a redefinition of the term the legal experts quickly
dismissed as overreach. Now, none of these moves slowed
the bleeding, though If anything, they made it worse.
And perhaps the loudest rebuke came not from investors or
federal agencies, but from Washington insiders who were
suddenly less enthusiastic about Musk's involvement in
government. MAGA aligned officials claims
Leon Musk has outlived his usefulness and his welcome in
Washington. According to them, Musk's role
in the Trump administration as a special government employee
assigned to the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE,
is winding down soon. So it's 130 day stint.
It's expected to expire in late May or June.
And the White House initially dismissed the story as garbage.
Complete trash. And Musk responded with his
usual flair. He just said fake news on X.
But then came confirmation that Musk's time in the federal gig
is indeed ended. That detail was enough to
reverse Tesla's stock slide, suggesting that Wall Street
might finally want must to get back to building cars again
rather than rewriting the Constitution or acting like a
part time government fixer and trashing our government.
For now, investors seem cautiously hopeful he'll
abandoned his political sideshow and focus on reversing Tesla's
steep decline. A Trump, as usual tone tried to
keep things amicable while offering a soft push out the
door. When asked about Musk's expiring
government role, Donald Trump replied, Well, I think he's
amazing, but I also think he's got a big company to run.
And so at some point he's going to be going back.
He wants to basically, he said thanks, but it's time you went
back and played with Tesla again.
Now. It's worth noting that Musk
hasn't been universally reveled inside the White House, though
some aides have praised the cost cutting measures his doge group
introduced across various departments.
But the price of his presence, constant media chaos on X,
internal rifts and backlash in federal courts has worn very
thin. Now, several Trump advisors had
grown so exhausted with Musk's unpredictability that they
stopped trying to rein him in and instead began counting down
the days until he'd be out of their hair.
Now, Elon Musk still has a lot of money.
His financial fortunes have taken a beating, though.
Since January, he's shed more than 1/4 of his total net worth.
Given he still holds a commanding $323 billion fortune,
well ahead of Jeff Bezos, who trails by over 100 billion, the
dip might not seem catastrophic at first glance.
Still, the number isn't just symbolic.
Much of Musk's wealth is tied to Tesla stock.
The Tesla sharp nosedive reflects not only its weak
sales, but a broader market revaluation of Elon Musk
himself. But why does this all matter?
It's because Tesla isn't just another automaker.
It's a bellwether for the EV industry in a public facing
laboratory for new tech when Musk flounders confidence in EVs
and Tesla and tech waivers for average consumers deciding
whether to go electric, Tesla's instability injects uncertainty
into a choice that's already expensive and familiar.
And for investors, Tesla's erratic performance cast doubt
on the entire sectors reliability and its stability.
It also matters politically. Musk's attempt to realign test
this customer base with red state values while
simultaneously partnering with Trump's administration kind of
blur the line between corporate strategy and also the White
House. And yet, despite the barrage of
criticism setbacks, Elon Musk remains of repentant.
His feed continues to pump out provocations and potshots,
seemingly undisturbed by the crumbling credibility of both
his company and his personal political alliances.
His online audience Huge offers a kind of echo chamber that may
be shielding him from fully grasping just how many bridges
he's torched in the real world. Does he read the comments?
Maybe a Tesla's deteriorating reputation among its core
customers is perhaps the most glaring consequence of Musk's
hard right turn. Once the darling of coastal
liberals and environmentally conscious tech enthusiasts,
Tesla now finds itself battling for relevance among buyers it
once ignored. But the rural and conservative
markets, Musk now courts, have long been skeptical of EVs, and
no amount of red baseball caps or MAGA hats or Trump adjacent
stagecraft has changed that. Musk's attention span seems
increasingly fractured. Autonomous driving, once Tesla's
big promise suddenly point, remains perpetually just around
the corner a couple years away. Tesla's much hyped self driving
software FSD remains in beta, still years past its original
promise delivery now. Meanwhile, competitors like BYD
and even legacy automakers Ford and GM are catching up in some
areas surpassing Tesla both on tech and also what we all want,
affordability of an EV. The cheese hat debacle.
It was goofy. It is supposed to core
misunderstanding Musk seems to have about influence.
Money buys access, but it doesn't buy legitimacy and it
certainly doesn't buy votes. Wisconsin voters rejected not
only the candidate Musk backed, but the motion that a
billionaire with a goofy ass hat and a blank check could hijack
their democratic process. Then came the legal cloud.
Musk's $2,000,000 handout to rally goers raised eyebrows
across legal circles, and that prompted questions about
electioneering and the legality of such blatant financial
incentives during an active race.
The episode sparked an investigation into whether the
checks violated campaign finance laws.
Now, whether that's these, the consequences or not, the optics
are already damning. The backlash hasn't just come
from Democrats or the usual Musk skeptics.
Even inside the Trump camp, the cracks are visible.
Now. Musk's erratic behavior has
divided Trump's inner circle, too.
Some AIDS view him as a valuable disruptor.
Others see him as a volatile liability.
The internal conflict has reportedly LED some senior
officials to resign themselves to simply managing Musk's
presence until his time runs out at Doge.
Elon Musk's credibility is wearing thin with the EV crowd.
Promises of a $25,000 Tesla model meant to be a game changer
remain unfulfilled for years. Manufacturing delays, recalls
and half launch features have become the new normal for Tesla.
While early adopters once forgave delays because they
believed in the vision, many now feel strung along by empty
timelines and broken pledges by Elon.
The bottom line is that Musk's political stunt work and
ideological shift haven't saved Tesla.
They've heard it. And while he may still be the
richest person alive, his influence is showing sign of
real erosion. Even Trump seems to recognize
that the Musk brand, once it adds that may now be a
liability. Elon Musk's political
misventures, corporate distractions and failing bets if
finally caught up to him. Let me know what you think about
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