Donald Trump wants Americans to be nice to Tesla and Elon Musk—or feel the wrath of the federal government. Yes, in an effort to quell populist rage at his financial backer, Trump held a press conference Tuesday at which he announced he would be designating violence against Tesla dealerships as “domestic terrorism.” Such a designation could mean incredibly long prison sentences (on par with violent insurrectionists) for people who put a brick through a car dealership’s window.
“They’re harming a great American company,” Trump said, at the press conference. The president also made the bizarre claim that people who vandalize Tesla dealerships are the “same guys that screw around with our schools and universities, the same garbage, and we’re going to catch them.”
Musk, also in attendance, said: “It’s really terrible that there’s so much violence being created against people like Tesla, Tesla supporters, Tesla owners, Tesla stores. These are innocent people.”
Musk’s activities as head of the Department of Government Efficiency have encouraged thousands of people to participate in the “Tesla Takedown” movement, which has targeted the billionaire’s company for boycotts and protest, and drawn angry crowds to dealerships across the country.
Tesla vehicles and dealerships have also been targeted by random acts of violence. Dealerships have been set on fire, shot at, and had bricks thrown through their windows. As far as can be discerned, these acts of violence are totally unrelated to the “Tesla Takedown” movement and are just the result of angry Americans blowing off steam at the billionaire who sells the cars.
During the same press conference, Trump announced that he would be buying a Tesla, and he and Elon stood in front of one of the vehicles. Later, Trump got into the car and mumbled weird stuff like, “Wow, everything’s computer!” The publicity stunt came off as a flagrant and obvious example of corruption, and critics labeled it a “Tesla informercial.”
It isn’t difficult to see why Americans are taking out their anger at Elon on his car company. Through DOGE, Musk has attacked and threatened to destroy a majority of the public services that are dispensed by the federal government, including Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and veterans’ services.
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