Nationwide demonstrations have erupted outside Tesla stores in the United States as people protest its billionaire CEO Elon Musk and his push to slash federal spending—in collaboration with President Donald Trump—in his new role as the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) leader.
As critics of Musk and Trump hope to discourage the purchase of Tesla vehicles; liberal groups have been organizing protests, hoping to bolster opposition to Musk-led DOGE and to energize democrats demoralized by the Trump victory.
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“We can get back at Elon,” Nathan Phillips, a 58-year-old ecologist from Newton, Massachusetts, told The Independent as he protested in Boston on March 1. “We can impose direct economic damage on Tesla by showing up at showrooms everywhere and boycotting Tesla and telling everyone else to get out, sell your stocks, sell your Teslas.”
Heading DOGE, Musk aims to slash nearly $1 trillion dollars from federal spending under Trump’s orders. The Tesla CEO’s critics claim that his actions defy Congress’ power to control the U.S. budget and present a host of ways for him to enrich himself. Musk leads several other companies, notably SpaceX, which conducts launches for NASA and the intelligence community, and the social media platform X.
“Protests will not deter President Trump and Elon Musk from delivering on the promise to establish DOGE and make our federal government more efficient and more accountable to the hardworking American taxpayers across the country,” said White House spokesperson Harrison Fields.
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More than 50 demonstrations were listed on the website Tesla Takedown for Saturday, March 1, with more planned later in the month from coast to coast in the U.S. along with England, Spain and Portugal. News reports showed demonstrations in recent days in U.S. cities including Tucson, Arizona; St. Louis; New York City; Dayton, Ohio; Charlotte; and Palo Alto, California.
Nine people were arrested during a demonstration outside the New York dealership. A woman has also been charged for vandalism, outside the Colorado Tesla dealership. DOGE has, in its efforts to cut government spending, caused the firing of thousands of employees and the termination of hundreds of aid contracts and federal leases.