#TeslaTakedown Elon Musk & DOGE
- April Rubin
- Mar 22
- 2 min read
Updated: May 25
Elon Musk's Tesla has become a rallying point for protestors outraged with how the world's richest man has insinuated himself into President Trump's administration and led efforts to slash government agencies.
Why it matters: The #TeslaTakedown protests at Tesla locations nationwide are one of the first signs of grassroots backlash to Musk's role in the Trump administration, targeting his flagship company.
Musk's close involvement with the Trump administration has made some investors queasy as Tesla's stock has tumbled recently.
Tesla shares are still up about 15% since last July, when Musk endorsed Trump's candidacy and became more visibly active boosting his election.
But the stock's "Trump bump" has faded sharply since the inauguration — falling 30% in the last month — as Musk's DOGE was unleashed on the government and public sentiment sourced.
State of play: The protest movement, also called #TeslaTakeover, urges people to sell their vehicles and get rid of their stock.
Context: Musk has had a co-captain seat in the first month of President Trump's administration.
His DOGE team has accessed sensitive databases, purged staffing and overhauled federal agencies.
What they're saying: "Detaching Musk from Tesla would be a meaningful blow against this administration and its prerogatives, because it would be a strike against what they hold most dear: money and power," actor and filmmaker Alex Winter, who got involved in the organizing, wrote in a Rolling Stone piece on Feb. 21.
Part of the motivation is to undermine Musk's image, which is "the source of his clout," Winter wrote. "And it's another balloon that's ready to rupture."
The #TeslaTakedown protests hit at time when a series of polls show that Musk and DOGE are widely unpopular in America.
Zoom in: Sociologist Joan Donovan called for a #TeslaTakedown at Tesla dealerships across the world. Since then, at least 100 cities have had protests outside Tesla locations, per Winter.
Some Telsa owners' cars have been vandalized or they've received criticism for their vehicles, Business Insider reported.
Other Tesla owners have resorted to bumper stickers to distance themselves from Musk.
Some sticker versions read "Anti Elon Tesla Club," "F Elon" and "I Bought This Before We Knew Elon Was Crazy."
The other side: At the Conservative Political Action Conference on Feb. 20, Musk dismissed the protests as "fake rallies," per Politico.
Between the lines: The Tesla protests are among other early grassroots campaigns against the Trump administration.
They're occurring parallel to a Feb. 28 economic blackout, which urges Americans to abstain from shopping with major retailers for government accountability and corporate reform.
April Rubin is a breaking news and general assignment reporter at Axios.
