- Trump says protesters who damage Tesla showrooms count as “domestic terrorists”
- U.S. President says he plans to buy Model S EV to make a “statement”
- The American automaker is facing growing resentment from the general public
U.S. President Donald Trump said March 11 that he would consider labelling people who enacted violence during protests at the showrooms of Texas-headquartered carmaker Tesla “domestic terrorists,” apparently at the suggestion of a news reporter during a bizarre press conference held in front of one of the (once-)popular EVs on the White House front lawn. He also falsely claimed that it was “illegal” to boycott buying the company’s products, in the wake of rapidly expanding distaste for the manufacturer among the public.
The American automaker has been beset by a growing wave of protests across the States, as well as in Europe, largely in response to the controversial political stances recently adopted by its CEO, Elon Musk, as well as his work on behalf of the U.S. federal government in its DOGE department. Musk has been branded by many a “Nazi” for a Seig-Heil-like gesture wielded at Trump’s inauguration, and for comments he made at a German far-right AfD party rally.
The anti-Tesla protests have been charged but mostly peaceful. However, more and more of them seem to be indirectly affiliated with acts of arson (involving burning Tesla vehicles); vandalism; and property damage, sometimes via firearms.
One journalist reportedly asked Trump about the political action, and suggested some have called for some protesters to be labelled “domestic terrorists,” reports The Hill. “I will do that, I’ll do it. I’m going to stop them,” the President replied. “Those people are going to go through a big problem when we catch them. We’ve got a lot of cameras up, we already know who some of them are. We’re going to catch them. And they’re bad guys.”
Trump explained the same rationale would apply to not just Tesla, but any American enterprise. A statement from the White House later characterized the protests as the work of “radical Leftist activists” trying to “intimidate or coerce our government or it’s people.”
The President’s remarks were made on the front lawn of the White House as he stood beside Musk and a Tesla car, apparently giving an unprecedented endorsement for the product that critics rushed to say was not befitting of the office; that didn’t stop Trump from declaring his intent to buy one of the EVs, a red Model S, expressly “to make a statement,” and because he felt Musk has been treated unfairly.
The past weekend witnessed a rash of protests at Tesla dealerships across the United States. One showroom in Manhattan collected more than 350 demonstrators, with five arrested for disorderly conduct. A protest in Boston of similar size saw no arrests. Chicago and California also hosted protests of slightly smaller groups, as did Portugal across the Atlantic.
Late February and early March also saw four Tesla Cybertrucks burned at a Seattle lot; and the windows of a Tesla showroom shot up one evening in Oregon. About a dozen new Teslas were set fire to at a dealership in France on March 2.
The growing anti-Tesla sentiment has sent the brand’s stock absolute plummeting, and has led many to sell their cars or refrain from purchasing a new model, a “boycott” that Trump falsely categorized as “illegal” on Tuesday. CEO Elon Musk for his part claimed dubiously and completely without evidence that the protests were financially supported by an organization called ActBlue, funded partly by George Soros; experts noted that ActBlue “does not fund groups, but instead is a platform through which donors can give money to campaigns or organizations,” reported Forbes.
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