My first reaction to all of this is a hearty LOL. Property damage is now “terrorism” if it’s property damage linked to the guy who bought the entire Republican Party—and who effectively bought Trump the White House. What is, unfortunately, a lot less funny is that all of this is part and parcel of the administration’s chilling crackdown on dissent of any kind.
There have been at least a few extreme incidents involving damage to Teslas over the last two months: This week, multiple Tesla vehicles in a parking lot in Las Vegas were lit on fire. (Law enforcement is currently investigating the incident.) In February, a Colorado woman was arrested for destroying Tesla vehicles with Molotov cocktails. Last week, a 24-year-old in South Carolina was arrested for allegedly throwing five Molotov cocktails at a Tesla charging station. But no one was injured in any of these cases. At the same time that the DOJ is threatening domestic terrorism charges for property damage against Teslas, it’s scaled back enforcement of lifesaving federal protections for abortion providers. To state the obvious, this is all political theater to punish Musk-Trump critics.
Since Trump took office, protesters across the country—and, really, around the world—have been targeting Tesla dealerships and showrooms, protesting the company’s ties to a fascist presidential administration, and consequently tanking Tesla’s stock. In Germany, protesters projected an image of Musk’s apparent Nazi salute onto a Tesla dealership alongside the words “Heil Tesla.” As of last week, 94% of Germans say they wouldn’t buy a Tesla, pointing to Musk’s far-right politics. In Canada, which Trump has spent the last couple of months threatening to annex, the upcoming Vancouver International Auto Show announced on Tuesday that it’s removing Tesla vehicles, citing safety concerns due to the threat of protests. I say: Good! Fascist-affiliated cars should absolutely face protests everywhere they go.
In damage control mode, Musk has since wielded the president of the United States as his personal influencer, and the White House as Tesla’s quasi-marketing department. Last week, Trump bought a Tesla and presented it outside the White House, reading talking points aloud from a Tesla marketing packet to reporters. Republicans and conservative influencers, in general, have been trying to push Musk’s cars down everyone’s throats: “This may be the coolest thing I’ve ever seen….” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) wrote on Twitter last week, posting a photo of himself posing next to a Tesla. Other social media users are buying Twitter ads telling users to “Buy a Tesla. Support America’s hero,” alongside a photo of Musk. No thanks.
But clearly, no one feels sorrier for Musk than Musk himself. “It’s really come as quite a shock to me that there is this level of, really, hatred and violence from the left,” he said, practically crying in a Tuesday night interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity. “I always thought that the left, Democrats, were supposed to be the party of empathy, the party of caring, and yet they’re burning down cars, firebombing dealerships, they’re firing bullets into dealerships, they’re smashing up Teslas.” (To be clear: No dealerships have been firebombed.) He continued: “I’ve never done anything harmful, I’ve only done productive things. This doesn’t make any sense. I think there are larger forces at work.”
Translation: “I installed a fascist president who’s trying to round up and deport dissenters, force women and rape victims to give birth, and defunded lifesaving government programs, all while raking in billions for myself in government contracts, and now everyone hates me and my shitty cars.” Boo hoo. As the world burns, largely thanks to Musk and his ilk, the last thing I could possibly care about right now is the safety and well-being of Tesla vehicles.
