14 Mar Tesla, Musk, and Virtue Signaling
So…it’s time to talk about Tesla.
As you may have heard, Tesla has been in the news quite a bit lately. Protesters are attacking Tesla drivers on the streets. They are shooting up Tesla dealerships. They are vandalizing Teslas in showrooms and storage lots. If you’re on the Left and you have any means to do so, you’re probably out there right now, trying to destroy a Tesla, the company’s share price, or anything else affiliated with the company. Even this moron got in on the act this morning:
Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly (D) says he’s looking for a “new ride” and is going to get rid of his Tesla, which he says was “built and designed by an a‑‑hole.”
“I’m here in Washington driving to work for the last time in my Tesla,” Kelly said in a video posted on the social platform X. “When I bought this thing, I didn’t think it was going to become a political issue.
“Every time I get in this car in the last 60 days or so, it reminds me of just how much Elon Musk and Donald Trump is doing to our country. Talking about slashing Social Security, cutting health care benefits for poor people, for seniors. It’s one bad thing after the next,” he said of Musk’s actions as the lead of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Now, there are a few interesting things to note about Senator Kelly and his unhappiness with his Tesla.
First, what you see here is an example of the Democrats’ newfound fondness for swearing in public. I don’t know if they are trying to shore up their losses among younger voters this past fall by trying to be cool, or if they are trying to compensate for what they think is the feminizing effect of their participation in the whole trans cult, or what it is. I do know that they’re dropping f-bombs, and s-words, and a-holes all over the place the past few weeks. And it’s getting pretty cringe.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m no delicate flower or stickler for etiquette. I just think that it’s weird. Really, really weird. I mean…who are they trying to impress, exactly?
The second thing to note here is that Mark Kelly is a hack. He bought his Tesla for political reasons – to virtue signal his dedication to the environment or whatever – and he’s selling it for political reasons. Guess what, Senator? No one cares. Most people buy cars based on necessity. They choose what is best, most practical, and most affordable for their families. Sometimes – for those lucky enough to afford such luxuries – people buy cars for other reasons, thrills, looks, nostalgia, etc. The only people who buy and sell cars for political purposes are truly spoiled brats elites. If you’re selling your car to make a political statement, then one thing is clear: you are waaaaay too in to politics.
A third interesting thing about the whole rebellion against Tesla is that it is animated by a variant of Trump Derangement Syndrome. The people who are screaming, hollering, and swearing about Tesla are doing so because they hate Donald Trump. They may say it’s because they hate Elon Musk, but Musk has been an oddball and an acquired taste (at best) for a long, long time. Teslas were still popular, and Tesla dealerships were still safe places to work. That only changed after Musk affiliated himself with Trump. Trump Derangement Syndrome ruins everything – including, now, cars.
A final point to note about the rebellion against Tesla is that some of it is perfectly justified. Even given the craziness detailed above and asininity driving the politicization everything, some people have just cause to “dump” their Tesla, these people, for example:
Denmark’s AkademikerPension is dropping Tesla from its investment universe over employee rights issues and because CEO Elon Musk has “increasingly interfered” in politics, telling the firm it has just one more chance to retain the 145 billion Danish kroner ($20.1 billion) pension fund as a shareholder.
Tesla’s stock has taken a beating over the past few weeks – and for good reason. Its CEO is distracted, to say the least, and he’s very publicly alienating his primary customer base. To be clear, it’s the Trump deranged lefties who have made Tesla specifically a political target, but it’s Musk who gave them the opportunity to do so. As someone who has spent a considerable amount of time over the last few years railing on corporate executives for getting involved in politics, I’m not going to exonerate Musk for his role in the current political milieu. I understand that his political efforts are independent from the company’s business functions, and I don’t think those efforts are “stunts” or anything else frivolous. But I have to ask myself how I would feel about Tim Apple putting himself in a similar position. And the answer is, “I’d rake him over the coals.” I can’t treat Musk any differently just because I like his politics better. What’s good for the goose and all that. No CEO is more closely aligned in public perception with his companies than Musk is. It didn’t have to be this way, and he knows it – or at least he should.
The fact of the matter is that Elon should have resigned – not just from Tesla, but from SpaceX as well – before getting into politics. As much as I may be frustrated with him for doing so (for personal reasons), I know in my heart of hearts that Vivek Ramaswamy – Elon’s erstwhile partner at DOGE – did the right thing by cutting ties with Strive before enmeshing himself in the 2024 campaign (first as a candidate and then as Trump surrogate). To do otherwise would have made the company a captive to his political actions – precisely the type of thing the company was started to push back against.
It’s true that Tesla and its performance as a car manufacturer are unlikely to be affected by Elon’s DOGE activities. The same, however, cannot be said inarguably about SpaceX. And, in the end, it doesn’t really matter anyway. As I said – and as Mark Kelly demonstrates above – a significant percentage of people who buy Tesla’s do so for specific, non-necessity-driven reasons. That’s not every Tesla owner, and it’s not even a majority of them. But it is a considerable portion of the customer base. And Elon has ensured that they’d rather shoot at Teslas than buy them. That’s not a good look for a CEO – whatever one thinks of his company and its products.
