‘Tesla Takedown’ wants to hit Elon Musk where it hurts

On a caller Saturday afternoon, astir 50 sign-wielding protesters stood extracurricular the Tesla showroom successful Manhattan’s Meatpacking neighborhood, screaming insults astatine passing Tesla vehicles.

“Uncool car!”

“Don’t bargain a Swatsticar!”

“Major loser!”

The excitement peaked erstwhile an unsuspecting Cybertruck abruptly pulled astir the corner. As a female successful the rider spot stared wide-eyed retired the window, the protestors began to chant: “Micro penis! Micro penis!”

The protestation was 1 of dozens extracurricular Tesla locations crossed the state that day, spurred by Musk’s attempts to dismantle ample parts of the national government. As portion of an effort dubbed #TeslaTakedown aliases #TeslaTakeover by organizers, groups of protesters person mostly planned their actions connected Bluesky, a competitor to Musk’s X, and are now entering their 3rd week of activity.

It started pinch a smattering of demonstrations extracurricular Tesla showrooms successful places for illustration Maine, Massachusetts, New York, California, and Colorado. But arsenic Musk continues to blaze a way of destruction, the number of protests has exploded. There are presently 65 events listed connected TeslaTakedown.com, extending done the extremity of March. There’s moreover a increasing number of overseas events.

The activity is mostly grassroots, lacking immoderate clear leader aliases organizational structure. Joan Donovan, noted disinformation researcher, is credited pinch starting the hashtag, and since then, a fewer established groups for illustration Indivisible and Rise and Resist person hopped aboard to amplify it. But the protests are mostly organized locally.

With Democrats seen arsenic mostly paralyzed and feckless successful the look of Musk’s takeover, the protests person go the only existent outlet to conflict back. Protesters opportunity they intend to support showing up, nary matter really agelong it takes.

In Manhattan, Laurie Aron looked connected successful a cheetah-patterned fur coat, holding an orangish motion that said “Don’t thrust fascist.” She said she hopes the protests turn to the constituent wherever they yet deed Musk wherever it hurts: his pocketbook.

“I would for illustration to spot him weakened successful immoderate measurement possible,” she said. “There’s a batch of talk astir his waste price, that income of Tesla are tanking, that yet his banal value is going to disappear, is going to lower, that he’s not going to beryllium the superb billionaire. And I would for illustration to spot him look a batch weaker and dumber.”

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If it seems arsenic if Musk is strutting astir for illustration he’s untouchable, it’s for a bully reason. He’s an unofficial “special adviser” to President Donald Trump, operating extracurricular the cabinet, and is truthful not required to disclose firm holdings aliases study financial conflicts of interest. Congress has small expertise to scrutinize him — Democrats tin formally nonstop powerfully worded letters, while astir Republicans are actively cheering him on. And while Musk occasionally answers a fewer questions from the press, he ignored an invitation to look earlier the first Republican-led Congressional subcommittee connected the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Musk’s position arsenic the richest man successful the world is mostly acknowledgment to Tesla’s banal price. He owns 13 percent of the company, making him the azygous largest shareholder. As of today, the institution is worthy $1.08 trillion, meaning Musk’s liking is worthy astir $140 billion. And Tesla’s committee of board is composed of adjacent friends and relatives, raising concerns astir its independency from the arguable CEO. Several existent and erstwhile Tesla committee members person additionally invested millions of dollars successful Musk’s different companies, for illustration xAI and SpaceX.

So really do you reason personification truthful powerful, truthful untouchable, truthful unaccountable?

Donovan, a sociologist and disinformation interrogator who was antecedently ousted from her position astatine Harvard for exposing Meta’s financial ties to the university, saw an opportunity aft reference astir a mini gathering astatine a Tesla Supercharger position successful Maine. Not 1 to return a billionaire-led coup lying down, Donovan decided she and her friends would protestation extracurricular a Tesla showroom successful Boston — and would spell online and promote others to do the same.

“It really comes down to knowing really rich | people’s money works,” Donovan told me. “Musk is not Scrooge McDuck pinch his ain Fort Knox wherever he tin aquatics astir successful the golden doubloon. He’s complete leveraged connected loans from his Tesla stock.”

The purpose was multipronged: get group to waste their Tesla banal and vehicles; make different group reconsider investing successful Tesla aliases buying a vehicle; toxify the marque by associating it pinch Musk and his “Heil Hitler” salute astatine Trump’s inauguration. They scored a large triumph erstwhile musician Sheryl Crow posted a video of herself trading her Tesla connected Instagram.

“There comes a clip erstwhile you person to determine who you are consenting to align with,” Crow wrote successful the caption. “So agelong Tesla.”

Bluesky proved useful successful spreading the word. It’s already teeming pinch Twitter refugees who fled aft the societal level was Musk-ified and turned into X. Donovan started utilizing the hashtag #TeslaTakedown to promote others to protestation extracurricular showrooms successful their communities. Soon enough, the hashtag was picked up by Alex Winter, a documentary filmmaker and character celebrated for his domiciled successful Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure and its sequels. Winter group up a website, TeslaTakedown.com, to service arsenic a one-stop shop for anyone willing successful demonstrating.

“I’d opportunity the evident Tesla-targeted ngo is to create a activity that helps toxify Musk’s narration to the institution and create a ballot of nary assurance from the shareholders,” Winter said. “And that would effect him greatly because overmuch of his wealthiness is tied up successful his liking successful Tesla. And besides to shareholders and to committee members, it is repellent to person an outwardly fascist autocrat astatine the caput of that company.”

In the aftermath of Trump’s inauguration, the media has mostly been focused connected the deficiency of a wide guidance activity analogous to the Women’s March successful 2017 during the first Trump administration. But Winter says that an atomized protestation activity tin beryllium conscionable arsenic effective.

“I deliberation a misnomer astir protestation is that if you don’t person a cardinal group flooding into the promenade successful DC, it’s meaningless, which is really not true,” he said. “We’ve had individual picketers shutting full stores down, luring retired section news, creating a operation successful their cities. That’s very, very meaningful.”

The protests person occurred during a peculiarly susceptible infinitesimal successful Tesla’s history. Sales are down twelvemonth complete year for the first clip successful complete a decade. And successful different first, the company’s marketplace stock precocious dropped beneath 50 percent. Tesla’s bestsellers, the Model 3 and Model Y, were some updated successful the past year, but the company’s lineup is mostly seen arsenic old and severely successful request of an overhaul. The Cybertruck, the first caller exemplary successful years, is looking little for illustration a game-changer and much for illustration a flash successful the pan.

Of course, the income driblet preceded the protests. It’s unclear what benignant of effect, if any, the demonstrations will person connected Tesla’s early sales. But Musk’s ain support is underwater, pinch astir 50 percent of respondents to a February 13th–18th Washington Post-Ipsos poll saying they disapprove of really Musk was handling his job.

Tesla’s banal value is wildly high. Its inflated worth is mostly limited connected Musk’s communicative of the institution arsenic a world leader successful robotics and AI. As noted by labor journalist Hamilton Nolan recently, Tesla’s price-to-earnings ratio is presently 164, meaning that its banal value is 164 times the worth of its net per share. By comparison, the mean PE ratio of the apical 500 companies successful America correct now is 30, which is precocious by historical standards.

But it’s not clear that hurting Tesla will really matter overmuch to Musk. He remains successful Trump’s bully graces, and predictions of an imminent falling retired betwixt the 2 look to beryllium mostly wish-casting. Even if these protests tin earnestly impact Tesla, Musk has consolidated truthful overmuch governmental powerfulness that, aft a definite point, it’s not clear whether marketplace forces still use arsenic strongly.

But Tesla’s banal behaves for illustration a meme stock, and meme stocks thin to beryllium susceptible to communicative shifts. Tesla’s communicative is that Musk is simply a brilliant who will build humanoid robots and self-driving cars and return america to Mars. But now the communicative is changing, and Musk is seen successful a different light: an unaccountable billionaire oligarch, a leader of a coup, a hatchet man for Trump, and a right-wing fascist.

This is what the Tesla Takedown wants to exploit. And while the protesters are demonstrating peacefully extracurricular showrooms, others are taking matters into their ain hands. There person been numerous reports of Cybertrucks and other Teslas being defaced pinch swastikas and Nazi-related graffiti. Someone changeable retired the windows of a Tesla showroom successful Salem, Oregon. The FBI is investigating.

Musk himself has said very small astir the protests. He tends to mock aliases belittle his critics connected X but has kept his powder barren successful this case. At CPAC past week, aft swinging a chainsaw astir successful acheronian sunglasses, Musk did look to make offhand reference to the protests.

“You see, like, these, these benignant of clone rallies pinch hardly immoderate people,” he said, “and the media will, like, framework it, [making a rectangle pinch his fingers] and like, you know, get each six group successful the frame, but it’s like, cipher other is there, like, just, it doesn’t person celebrated support.”

Truthfully, a batch of the protests person been sparsely attended. On the aforesaid time arsenic the Manhattan protest, a twelve group stood outside a Tesla shop successful Devon, Pennsylvania. A columnist covering the arena noted that he should person crossed the Delaware River to Cherry Hill, NJ, wherever complete 300 group were picketing.

Winter says the wave of the protests will matter much than individual headcount. “The net is awesome for creating very robust, decentralized movements,” he said, “which is what this is.”

In the Meatpacking District, John B. from Brooklyn waved a motion pinch a image of a shiba inu, the canine from the “DOGE” meme, getting bonked connected the caput pinch a bat. John, who declined to stock his past name, heard astir the protests from Winter connected Bluesky and wanted to travel retired and registry his anger astir the programs that were being slashed by Musk and his cronies. Real group are going to beryllium wounded by the layoffs and cuts, he said. So Musk should consciousness the pain, too.

“He is ruining people’s lives pinch these cutoffs, and it’s cruel,” said John. “And truthful if we tin thrust Tesla income down further, if we tin person 5 group present coming that possibly I don’t really want a Tesla, I deliberation that’s a triumph for us.”