Elon Musk has become the subject of attacks, both personally and against his companies, from Democrats and liberal media personalities since taking on his role in the Trump administration to cut government waste.
Democratic politicians, late-night hosts and political commentators have been touting Tesla’s plummeting stock and acts of vandalism – even destruction – targeting the electric vehicle maker.
Former Democratic vice presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz, D-Minn., recently revealed that he checked the stock daily to give himself a little “boost” during the day.
“On the iPhone, they’ve got that little stock app. I added Tesla to it to give me a little boost during the day,” Walz said, referencing Tesla’s stock slump as he held up his iPhone during a Wisconsin town hall titled, “The People vs Musk,” on Tuesday.
Walz, who called Musk an “unelected, South African, nepo-baby” during the event, also encouraged Tesla owners to remove the logo on their car.
Elon Musk is facing mounting attacks in the media as well as from Democrats over his role in the Trump administration. (Left: Screenshot/MSNBC, Center: (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images), Right: (Photo by Gilbert Flores/Billboard via Getty Images), Right: (Photo by Tibrina Hobson/Getty Images))
Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel also made jokes about the Tesla stock, as well as the acts of vandalism that have targeted the company’s charging stations, dealers and more.
“Please don’t vandalize. Don’t ever vandalize Tesla vehicles,” Kimmel sarcastically told his audience, before pausing and looking into the camera, prompting laughter.
Kimmel also said that Tesla’s stock was way down, “almost disastrously so,” as the audience loudly cheered.
Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson published a Substack post headlined, “Kill Tesla, Save the Country,” on Wednesday.
“Tesla is no longer just a car company; it’s a bank for fascists, a goose-stepping hedge fund bankrolling the political fever dreams of Elon Musk and his DOGE dreams of controlling the ruins of the American government as he becomes Earth’s first trillionaire and then the Emperor of Mars,” he wrote.
Wilson wrote that Musk had a weak spot and encouraged people to “attack.”
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MSNBC hosts Michael Steele, Symone Sanders-Townsend and Alicia Menendez laughed while discussing SpaceX’s eighth suborbital flight test of its fully integrated Starship megarocket in early March, which ended in an explosion.
“Well, Elphaba may be defying gravity, but you know who isn’t? Elon Musk,” Menendez said on March 8, as Sanders mimicked the singing of “Wicked” character Elphaba, the flying Wicked Witch of the West in the “Wizard of Oz” adaptation.
Steele went on to argue that Musk should return to his day job.
“For Elon, his response to all of this was, ‘Rockets are hard.’ And Mr. Musk, if they’re so hard, why don’t you go back to your day job and work that out and leave those of us who do government to do government, because you can’t do both,” Steele said. “Clearly, you’re failing right now at both.”
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MSNBC’s Michael Steele, a former RNC chair and staunch Trump critic, routinely criticizes Elon Musk and the president. (Screenshot/MSNBC)
Liberal personalities have also taken shots at Musk’s South African roots.
“But when you have people who don’t understand how the United States government works because they are freshly here and not keyed into what’s going on inside the government, Elon Musk, out of South Africa,” MSNBC’s Sanders Townsend said during a March 10 conversation on the network.
“The View” co-host Joy Behar claimed that Musk was “pro-apartheid” and called him a “foreign agent” during the show in late February.
“Elon Musk kisses his butt and strokes his tiny ego or big ego, whatever it is, and he doesn’t get to do – he can take a nap,” Behar said, characterizing Musk’s relationship with President Donald Trump, adding, “while the guy [Musk], who was not born in this country, who was born under apartheid in South Africa, so he has that mentality going on. He was pro-apartheid as I understand it,” Behar claimed.
She continued, “I think this is just perfectly wonderful for Trump. He can take a nap and let this foreigner, foreign agent, you know, an enemy of the United States, do his job.”
The co-host of the ABC talk show walked back her claim about Musk later in the program and admitted she didn’t really know if he was “pro-apartheid.”
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Former Democratic lawmaker and frequent MSNBC commentator Claire McCaskill was discussing recent polling that showed the Democratic Party had a low approval rating, and revealed she had a different takeaway than most of the headlines regarding the poll.
“I did not get the takeaway that seems to be the headline everywhere, that the Democratic Party sucks. I get it that everybody is frustrated about the Democratic Party,” she said. “You know what Putin’s approval rating was in that poll? Six. Putin’s approval rating was six. And this is the guy that he’s [Trump is] cozying up to.”
She added that Russia’s approval rating was just a couple of points higher before comparing both Russia and Putin’s approval to Musk’s: “They have the worst approval rating in America. I mean, theirs is even worse than Elon Musk. And that’s saying something.”
An NBC News poll conducted in March found that just three respondents polled had a positive view of Putin and just six had a positive view of Russia.
Elon Musk met with members of the Senate DOGE caucus at the White House. (Getty Images)
“The Daily Show” played clips of news reports about the vandalism and violence directed towards Tesla as cheers could be heard from the in-studio audience.
“Wow. You guys like petty acts of domestic terrorism,” Comedy Central co-host Jordan Klepper told the crowd on Wednesday, reacting to their applause. “Wow. Okay, let me just say: nobody should be breaking the law and blowing up Teslas. Especially because if you just wait a few minutes, they’ll probably do it by themselves.”
Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, joined a phone call hosted by “Tesla Takedown,” a protest effort encouraging people to sell their Tesla and dump their Tesla stock.
“All I want to see happen on my birthday is to see Elon taken down! Yes!” she said while praising the group.
CEO of Tesla and SpaceX Elon Musk speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort Hotel And Convention Center on February 20, 2025, in Oxon Hill, Maryland. ((Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images))
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt rebuked the attacks against Musk during an appearance on Fox News’ “Faulkner Focus.”
“Their hatred for Donald Trump fuels everything that they do, and it’s the only reason for the Democrat party today. And it’s unfortunate for the American public and for Democrat voters who are looking to their party for real leadership, well they should become Republicans,” she told host Harris Faulkner on Thursday, responding to a question about the comedians taking aim at Musk.
“Because if you look at what President Trump and Elon Musk are doing, we’re making this government more efficient, we are being more accountable to the American taxpayer, we are securing our southern border, producing law and order in this country, securing our homeland. These are basic common sense principles,” she continued.
Some other liberals, including Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., and even country music singer Sheryl Crow have publicly touted getting rid of their Teslas.
“I feel like a rolling billboard for a man dismantling our government and hurting people. So Tesla, you’re fired!” Kelly wrote on social media. Musk had previously accused Kelly of being a “traitor” in response to a post the senator made about supporting Ukraine.
“Elon Musk kind of turned out to be an a‑‑hole, and I don’t want to be driving a car built and designed by an a‑‑hole. So, looking forward to my new ride,” Kelly said in the video.
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Kelly posted an update on Sunday, announcing that he had bought a Chevy Tahoe.
Crow posed in a video posted on social media in February and waved goodbye to her Tesla.
“My parents always said… you are who you hang out with. There comes a time when you have to decide who you are willing to align with. So long Tesla,” Crow wrote on Instagram. “Money donated to @npr, which is under threat by President Musk, in hopes that the truth will continue to find its way to those willing to know the truth.”
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Fox News’ Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.
