By Phil Pasquini
Located on busy M Street in tony Georgetown, the Tesla dealership was the scene of a weekly protest on March 8 as part of an ongoing worldwide #TeslaTakeDown campaign. Protesters demonstrated against the electric car company and its unelected CEO Elon Musk head of DOGE for the dismantling of the American government and for ongoing public displays of his Nazi sympathies.
While small in number, this Saturday’s #TeslaTakeDown protest was popular with passing motorists one of whom stopped in traffic on the busy street in front of the dealership and continuously blew his horn to the delight of the protesters and passersby and to the frustration to those caught in the traffic backup that resulted.
Both the driver and passenger of one Tesla that passed by attempted to cover their faces from the protesters as supporters and others stopped to take pictures of the protest along with selfies.
Signs being held aloft referred to Musk as a “menace” in denoting the DOGE looting of the Treasury, along with their “stealing of taxpayers’ personal and financial information and data.” The takeover of Social Security, and the firing of 30,000 federal workers along with the gutting of our scientific and essential infrastructures were also dully referenced.
By targeting Tesla, protesters are sending Musk a financial shockwave to erode his wealth along with that of his stockholders by placing intense pressure on the company’s finances and reputation. Many owners have elected to express their disgust with Musk by selling their Tesla stock and cars to free themselves of any links with him and the company. The protests, both big and small, have been gaining momentum across the country and globally as Musk continues to eviscerate federal government.
Tesla dealerships and charging stations along with the cars and Cyber trucks have also been taking a toll with increased vandalism. And this week, seven of the company’s charging stations were set on fire in Massachusetts and an arsonist in France torched twelve vehicles at a dealership destroying eight cars and severely damaging four others. The Georgetown dealership had been recently damaged by someone with a sharp instrument who etched its surface.
The New York Times reported that on Thursday last week, during a Cabinet meeting in the Oval Office, a contentious confrontation broke out among co-president Musk and Secretary of State Marco Rubio and others. The article related that Musk accused Rubio of having fired “nobody” and through a series of heated exchanges, Rubio told of 1,500 workers who had taken early retirement and buyouts thus reducing the workforce at State. Reuters reported that Trump in his usual about face from an intransient position “…told his Cabinet heads that they, not Musk, have the final say on staffing and policy at their agencies.”
Trump also changed his analogy from letting Elon “go wild” to that of department heads using a scalpel implying that the original approach was not working. Trump laughingly has also praised Musk by calling him an “amazing and caring person.”
When questioned later by a reporter about the confrontation, a sore point for the irritable Trump, he denied that it had occurred. Which brings about what former mayor of New York Ed Koch once said about Trump: “I wouldn’t believe Donald Trump if his tongue were notarized.”
Tesla protests, along with Musk’s DOGE firings, Nazi salute, chainsaw dance antics and his interference in European politics, have resulted in the company’s stock taking a plunge since January from $404 per share to $262 on Friday. The 41.58 percent decrease in stock value means that for Musk, who owns 13 percent of the company, a loss of $102 billion. All of this is “self-driven” by numerous factors including a growing global dislike for all things Musk. In Tesla speak, it can be characterized as an “unscheduled disassembly.”
The decline in share value is being driven by European and UK sales that have dropped by an average of 47.5 percent while US sales have declined by 24 percent since January. China, where the car was once quite popular and is now facing strict competition with less expensive and well-appointed EVs like BYD and others, saw sales drop by 29 percent.
After Musk’s Nazi salute coupled with his interference in the recent German election, where he supported the Alternative for Germany (AfD) an extremist-far-right nationalist political party, sales have taken an immense decline by plummeting 59 percent since January. However, Spain has the record for the largest sales decline of 74.5 percent.
Even with the introduction of the new long range Model Y, the company is expected to continue losing money as its less than popular CEO continues ignoring his “cash cow” in favor of taking over the US government on his new foray into politics. His “clown car” government antics while admired by some are a big turnoff to most people as reflected in the sales decline.
It is anyone’s guess as to how much longer the “Bro-Fest” between Musk and Trump will continue as Musk becomes increasing hungrier for power and in becoming a liability instead of a foil for Trump. Once he has served his purpose, whatever that might be, Musk’s sure to be dumped.
Report and photos by Phil Pasquini
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10 March 2025
Source: countercurrents.org