Anti-Musk protests gain momentum

The international anti-Tesla movement is gaining momentum. On Tuesday night, activists set fire to a dozen Teslas in the yard of a Tesla branch near the southern French city of Toulouse. In Littleton, Colorado, other people sabotaged a Tesla charging station with an incendiary device.

Already at the weekend, thousands of people in around 50 US cities protested in front of and in Tesla stores against the head of the electric car manufacturer Elon Musk and his role in the current restructuring of the US government. Videos published in US media show them chanting "Sell your Tesla shares" and carrying signs with messages such as "No dictators in the USA". Activists also organized protests in Berlin and covered the windows of a Tesla branch with liters of blue paint on Saturday.

Protests against Tesla and its billionaire CEO have a long tradition, and so far they have mostly focused on the car company's business practices. These include the anti-union and sometimes authoritarian corporate culture or, as at the Brandenburg site, the strain on the local water supply . The current anti-Tesla wave is different. It sees the company, which Musk once described in an internal document as his cash cow, as a lever to dissuade the billionaire from his fascist course.

Since US President Donald Trump appointed Musk as his advisor and head of the US efficiency agency DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency), Musk has become increasingly politically active, even outside the USA. In the federal election campaign, he supported the AfD, which is in parts right-wing extremist. As head of DOGE, he has a central role in the restructuring of the US government: to reduce politically undesirable departments.

"Bought used, no $ for Musk"

Equipped with extensive clearances, Musk installed a previously assembled team of confidants in DOGE, which emerged from the US digital authority. When he took office, he began to examine the financial items of all US authorities. After just a few days, DOGE terminated thousands of employment, service and lease contracts and announced that it would drastically reduce spending on education, climate protection and development aid in particular.

Government employees who were allowed to keep their jobs were also asked to provide detailed accounts of their work activities to DOGE. Musk justifies his agency's course by saying that it is enforcing the will of the majority of society, "which has chosen far-reaching political change."

Critics see US democracy in serious danger because the agency under Musk's control is not subject to democratic control, for example by Congress. According to US media, its course is leading to tensions even in the Republican camp.

Economically, Musk's political statements and actions and the anti-Tesla movement have had a particular impact on the billionaire's wallet. While sales of electric cars in the EU rose slightly compared to the previous year, Tesla's sales fell by more than 50 percent. The share price has fallen by more than 40 percent since mid-December 2024, and Musk's fortune has shrunk accordingly by several billion US dollars.

For those who are now annoyed about having bought a Tesla, the protest movement has long had suitable stickers ready: “Bought used. No $ for Musk” or “Bought before Elon went crazy”.