Anti-Musk Sentiment Intensifies During Nationwide Protests

by Tanya Gazdik , April 7, 2025

Thousands of protestors took to the streets Saturday in the nationwide “Hands Off” protests and a notable number of them carried signs that targeted Tesla CEO and founder Elon Musk.

In New York, a woman carried a sign proclaiming “Deport Elon” along with a drawing of a Cybertruck. Another shows a photo of Musk wearing a Nazi uniform. In St. Joseph, Michigan, a sign states “No One Voted for Musk” and the protestor’s dog wears a sign “Dogs Against Doge.”

More than 60 protests were planned for Saturday, and a dozen more for Sunday, at Tesla showrooms across the United States.

"Just a week after more than 200 demonstrations took place at Tesla locations as part of the grassroots 'Tesla Takedown' movement, some locations doubled up on Saturday as “Hands Off!” rally locations — a separately organized mass day of protests nationwide," according to CNN. "The Tesla Takedown campaign encourages Tesla drivers to sell their vehicles and company stakeholders to sell their shares of stock to hurt the world’s richest man, whose wealth is mostly tied to the electric vehicle maker."

Meanwhile, Bette Midler said she sold her Tesla calling it a “'symbol of racism, greed and ignorance,” according to USA Today. “Midler's comments were seemingly made in reference to Musk's involvement in President Donald Trump's second administration as the Tesla and SpaceX founder seeks to dramatically reshape American government by reducing the size and scope of federal departments and agencies.”

Never before has the head of a company been so vilified by the American public with seemingly little regard for the effects on business.

One of Wall Street’s most bullish Tesla analysts slashed his price target for the stock by 43%, citing a brand crisis created by Musk.

“Tesla has essentially become a political symbol globally,” Daniel Ives, a Wedbush Securities analyst who’s rated the carmaker’s shares a buy for the last four years, wrote in a report to clients Sunday, according to Bloomberg. “It is time for Musk to step up, read the room, and be a leader in this time of uncertainty.”

Ives reduced his Tesla share-price target to $315 from $550, which had been the second-highest among the 72 analysts tracked by Bloomberg.

It’s not just celebrities getting rid of their Teslas. Vehicles that have been sold during the backlash against the company’s chief executive have become bargains on used car lots.

“Dr. Jerome Winegarden of Ann Arbor, Mich., said goodbye to his Tesla, a Model 3,” according to The New York Times. “Although he had driven it only 35,000 miles, he traded it in last month for a Ford F-150 Lightning electric pickup.”

Winegarden only received $18,000, well below the original sales price of around $40,000.

“I just became increasingly concerned with Elon Musk and what he was doing, and the Nazi salute was the tipping point,” Winegarden said. “The symbolism was just too much. I felt shame just driving the car.”

automotive, politics

7 comments about "Anti-Musk Sentiment Intensifies During Nationwide Protests".

Check to receive email when comments are posted.

John Caldwell from JACaldwell Inc, April 7, 2025 at 9:45 a.m.
These protests aren’t what they appear to be. Despite media attempts to paint them as a spontaneous grassroots movement, the reality is they’ve been carefully orchestrated and funded by activist groups with a clear political agenda. The repetition of signs, slogans, and coordinated media coverage across dozens of cities doesn’t happen without planning and money behind the scenes. At the center of it all is Elon Musk—a man being relentlessly targeted not for wrongdoing, but for daring to expose government waste, inefficiency, and corruption. That’s his real offense. The outrage over him isn’t coming from the public—it’s coming from political operatives who benefit from the very systems he’s challenging.

The attempt to turn Tesla into a symbol of racism and greed is absurd, especially when it’s celebrities like Bette Midler leading the charge from their multimillion-dollar homes. When a wealthy actress declares her car is now offensive, it says more about Hollywood echo chambers than anything resembling genuine moral outrage. The use of Nazi imagery against Musk is not only offensive and grotesque—it’s a deliberate smear meant to dehumanize and silence someone who won’t fall in line. There’s no evidence Musk has engaged in hate speech or discriminatory behavior. His critics rely on distortion and emotion because they can’t compete with him on facts or ideas.

Analysts downgrading Tesla stock over so-called “brand risk” are reacting to the noise, not the numbers. They’re acknowledging the political and reputational games being played—not any actual failure of the company or its products. And the handful of people selling their Teslas in protest? It’s not a movement. It’s a publicity stunt. The message is clear: toe the line or become a target. The real crisis here isn’t Tesla—it’s the growing influence of paid outrage and ideological conformity, weaponized to punish anyone who challenges centralized control.
Reply

Scott Terry from DDB, April 7, 2025 at 10:07 a.m.

"Thousands of protestors" was actually millions.
"More than 60 protests" was actually over 1,300.
And it wasn't just in the U.S., the protests were in other countries, as well.

Artie White from Zoom Media Corp replied, April 7, 2025 at 11:47 a.m.

"...they’ve been carefully orchestrated and funded by activist groups with a clear political agenda. The repetition of signs, slogans, and coordinated media coverage across dozens of cities doesn’t happen without planning and money behind the scenes." - Yes, just like any political movement does. This is not unique to the left, but your comment implies that its an anomaly. Disingenuous.

"Elon Musk—a man being relentlessly targeted not for wrongdoing, but for daring to expose government waste, inefficiency, and corruption." Please show me one instance of waste or corruption that he has exposed. From my POV he's focused on definding institutions purely based on an idological perspective and not following any research or analysis process.

"There’s no evidence Musk has engaged in hate speech or discriminatory behavior." He literally made Nazi salute on stage at the inauguration and has retweeted white nationalist and antisemetic content on X several times.

"Analysts downgrading Tesla stock over so-called “brand risk” are... acknowledging the political and reputational games being played—not any actual failure of the company or its products." Just a few weeks ago almost every single Tesla was recalled over pieces of the car falling off on the road. This was widely publicized and by choosing to ignore it, it's clear where your bias lies. Pun intented.

Ben B from Retired, April 7, 2025 at 8:29 p.m.

Tesla will be fine these type of things fizzles out and like most automotive companies have to recall sometimes to fix things. This shall pass in my opinion I have always liked Elon Musk he isn't a Nazi no facts or proof to back up either.

John Caldwell from JACaldwell Inc, April 11, 2025 at 12:06 p.m.

@Artie White - It’s telling that I’m being accused of pushing a political narrative when I never once mentioned left or right. I’m not injecting politics—I’m calling out how everything is being politicized, from which car you drive to who you follow on social media. The protests weren’t organic. Identical signs, slogans, and synchronized media coverage across cities clearly point to something organized and funded. That’s not unusual in politics, but pretending it’s spontaneous is misleading.

Musk has absolutely exposed waste—SpaceX is a clear example. He disrupted a bloated government contractor system, launching rockets for a fraction of the old cost. That’s not ideology, that’s results. Claiming he made a Nazi salute because he raised an arm on stage is disingenuous. Politicians and public figures across the spectrum do that gesture all the time. Just because you’ve changed your opinion of someone doesn’t mean they’ve suddenly become a Nazi.

As for hate speech, citing what Musk allows on X isn’t evidence of personal endorsement. He runs a platform—not a censorship bureau. Holding him accountable for what others say on it ignores how every social platform works.

And yes, Tesla had recalls—like every automaker. But analysts downgraded the stock because of perceived “brand risk,” not because parts were falling off. That says more about public narrative than product quality. If there’s bias here, it’s in the rush to politicize everything and turn disagreement into moral condemnation. I’m not defending a side—I’m pointing out where the distortion really lies.

If you’re going to accuse someone of bias, maybe start by recognizing your own. My position remains clear: I'm not pushing a side—I’m pushing back against the politicization of everything, especially when it relies on double standards, selective outrage, and headlines over substance.

Artie White from Zoom Media Corp replied, April 11, 2025 at 1:05 p.m.

@John Caldwell - what constitutes an "organic" protest? Yes it was a synchronized series of events, and yes, they were "funded" as well (in part by many donations from thousands of individual Americans including me), but this doesn't make them inauthentic. It makes them organized and designed to have impact, not just on the day of the protest but extended via media coverage and social reach. Thus more effective by any measure than the spontaneous anti-Trump marches in January 2016.

I didn't mention what Musk allows on X (although since you did. I'll acknowledge that its become a cesspool of anonymous trolls and misinformation last time I logged on, which is why users and advertisers have largely fled.) I referenced white nationalist and anti-semetic content that Musk himself has endorsed and/or amplified. Here's the latest example of several such instances: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/14/technology/elon-musk-x-post-hitler-stalin-mao.html. Google "Elon Musk white nationalist retweets" if you want to see more (I know you won't.)

As for "waste" found by Musk, give me a break. Leaving aside that waste is in the eye of the beholder (many people don't consider USAID to be "waste" at all), the majority of cuts made have been politically motivated. He has a fundamental misunderstanding of how Sopcial Security works. People from National Parks, HHS, and Veterans' Affairs are being terminated for "performance" without any supporting data or rationale. Your Space X example is a joke considering that his rockets are known more for exploding on launch than reaching any destination.

Looking at your past anti-DEI rants on Mediapost, John, the "selective outrage" is all yours. You care more about how Target and Nike run their businesses than you do about tens of thousands of people losing their jobs and the wealth inquality gap spreading wider. You're a Musk fanboy apologist who cares more about what people say about some billionaire than you do about the evisceration of our country's infrastructure by an unelected oligarch. The funny part is, the feeling is not mutual - Elon Musk doesn't care about you, me, or anyone else unless they can be leveraged for more money and power. If you believe otherwise, you're in a cult.

John Caldwell from JACaldwell Inc, April 11, 2025 at 1:23 p.m.

@Artie White - An organic protest reflects genuine, independent action—not coordinated messaging, synchronized timing, and media-ready staging. When protests are funded, branded, and executed like a political campaign, it’s fair to question who’s driving the narrative. That doesn’t make them fake, but it does mean they’re organized with a goal—and in this case, it’s targeting one man, not debating policy.

Your claim that Musk “endorses” hate by sharing controversial posts ignores context. Amplifying a viewpoint isn’t the same as endorsing it—especially when it sparks debate. Musk has shared from across the spectrum, but critics selectively highlight the few that fit their narrative. X being messy doesn’t prove anything—free speech often is.

Dismissing SpaceX as a joke ignores reality. It's lowered launch costs, disrupted government monopolies, and achieved what NASA couldn’t, faster and cheaper. That is exposing inefficiency. And criticizing bloated agencies isn't ideological—it's accountability.

Finally, calling me a “fanboy” or referencing DEI doesn’t address anything I actually said. I’m not defending Musk personally—I’m pointing out how politicized narratives are weaponized against people who challenge the status quo. That’s the real issue here.