Tesla, the electric vehicle giant once hailed as the vanguard of sustainable transport, has found itself at the centre of a growing and, at times, violent backlash.
This week, incidents of arson, gunfire, and mass protests against the company punctuated the news cycle, highlighting the broader discontent over its billionaire chief executive Elon Musk’s increasing entanglement with the Trump administration.
Near Boston, a set of Tesla charging stations was set ablaze in what authorities are treating as an act of vandalism. Meanwhile, in Tigard, Oregon, employees at a Tesla dealership arrived at work on Thursday morning to find their showroom riddled with bullet holes. Local police reported at least seven shots had been fired overnight, damaging three vehicles and shattering windows. One bullet, they noted, had penetrated a wall and lodged itself in a computer monitor.
In New York, tensions reached a fever pitch when a protest outside a Tesla dealership in Lower Manhattan turned chaotic. Several hundred demonstrators gathered at the sleek showroom in the West Village, blocking entrances and chanting slogans such as “Nobody voted for Elon Musk” and “Oligarchs out, democracy in.”
One protester carried a placard emblazoned with “Send Musk to Mars Now!!” – a pointed reference to the billionaire’s other enterprise, SpaceX. Some protesters entered the dealership, prompting police intervention. While most demonstrators dispersed after two hours, six were arrested. Five of them received summonses for disorderly conduct, while one was charged with resisting arrest.
The animosity directed at Tesla and its controversial CEO comes in the wake of Musk’s growing influence within President Trump’s second administration. More than seven weeks after Trump’s re-election, Musk has been installed as a senior adviser to the White House, where he oversees a sweeping cost-cutting initiative dubbed the Department of Government Efficiency. Critics argue that these drastic cuts to federal agencies, orchestrated by Musk, are undermining key government functions and disproportionately affecting sectors ranging from environmental protections to infrastructure development.
For years, Musk has cultivated a persona as a maverick entrepreneur, positioning Tesla as a revolutionary force in clean energy and transportation. However, his increasing alignment with Trump—both in policy and rhetoric—has alienated a substantial portion of his once-loyal customer base. Many who had championed Tesla as a beacon of green technology are now boycotting the brand, citing Musk’s political manoeuvres as an affront to democratic norms.
Public frustration with Tesla has been simmering for some time, but the recent spate of incidents suggests that opposition is intensifying. In Portland, local activists framed the gunfire at the Tesla dealership as part of a broader climate of hostility towards the company. “People are angry because Musk is leveraging his business empire to dictate government policy,” said one protester, declining to give their name. “He’s an unelected billionaire who now has a direct hand in shaping the future of the country.”
Musk, for his part, has largely dismissed the criticism. In a recent post on X, the social media platform he owns (formerly Twitter), Musk struck a defiant tone: “Haters gonna hate. We’re building the future—whether they like it or not.”
His supporters argue that the backlash against Tesla is both politically motivated and misguided. They point to Musk’s track record of innovation, from launching reusable rockets to pioneering advances in battery technology, as evidence that his leadership is indispensable to America’s economic and technological future. “Elon Musk is a genius,” wrote one user on X. “People are mad because he’s shaking up the system. Good. That means he’s doing something right.”
Yet, the perception of Musk as a disruptive force cuts both ways. To his detractors, his consolidation of power—both in business and government—represents a dangerous blurring of lines between corporate and political influence. At Saturday’s protest in New York, organiser Alice Hu underscored these concerns: “We’re seeing what happens when billionaires get too much control. It’s not just about Tesla. It’s about democracy itself.”
Whether the recent wave of violence is an anomaly or a sign of escalating tensions remains to be seen. What is clear, however, is that Tesla is no longer just a car company—it has become a flashpoint in the country’s increasingly polarised political landscape.
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Read Also: https://euglobal.news/marco-rubio-and-elon-musk-clash-in-white-house/
Read Also: In a dramatic and unprecedented confrontation at the heart of Washington, Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, and Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, clashed in the White House’s Cabinet Room.
Seated across from each other the two men exchanged sharp words over the administration’s radical cost-cutting measures, laying bare tensions simmering within President Donald Trump’s team.
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