- “Tesla Takedown” protests have happened in cities around the country in opposition to Elon Musk’s DOGE work.
- Protesters are calling for Tesla owners to sell their stock and cars. Some owners have seen their vehicles vandalized.
- Tesla’s stock price taken a hit this month and some shareholders told BI they want to sell their shares.
Criticism of Elon Musk has spilled out from the virtual walls of social networks and into the streets.
Demonstrators have gathered in cities around the US in recent days and weeks to participate in “Tesla Takedown” protests of varying sizes. Meanwhile, some Tesla owners have said they have faced insults or vandalism amid the Musk criticism.
Participants of the protests have called for a boycott of the EV giant in response to Musk’s involvement with the Trump administration and DOGE’s efforts to decrease the size of the federal workforce.
The “Tesla Takedown” effort started on BlueSky, a competitor to Musk’s X platform, and now has a dedicated website. The site calls for Tesla owners to sell their vehicles and stock in an effort to “stop Musk now.”
The website’s organizer, “Bill & Ted” actor and filmmaker Alex Winter, wrote in a RollingStone op-ed that demonstrations have happened at over 100 Tesla showrooms and other locations.
Tesla owner and shareholder David Abrams told Business Insider he’s heard about multiple protests but wasn’t aware of the “takedown” effort specifically. Abrams said he added “Anti Elon Tesla Club” and “I Bought This Before Elon Went Crazy” stickers to his car window, and is hoping that’s enough to keep it from getting vandalized.
“I absolutely want to sell my car and my shares,” Abrams said, adding that he’s waiting for the stock price to go up and would have sold his car already if it made financial sense.
While boycotts aren’t always effective at materially impacting a company’s bottom line, Wedbush analyst and Tesla bull Dan Ives wrote in a Monday note that Musk’s role in DOGE had a “visible perceived downside impact” on the company’s stock. Tesla’s share price has dropped this week after figures showed a 45% year-over-year drop in Tesla sales in Europe last month amid Musk’s vocal support of Germany’s far-right AfD party.
Musk addressed some of the protests while speaking at CPAC last week, calling them “fake rallies” with “hardly any people” and saying the demonstrations didn’t have “popular support.”
Here’s a closer look at some of the protests and anti-Tesla vandalism attempts that have taken place in recent weeks in the US.
