Behind the Tesla Attacks

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Colson Media.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
This is it could happen here. I'm Garrison Davis. Tesla
derangement syndrome is sweeping the nation the last week. On
March eleventh, President Donald Trump starred in a thirty five
minute Tesla commercial broadcast live from the White House driveway
to news stations across the country. This presidential ad campaign

(00:27):
started with Trump announcing that he himself would buy a
Tesla in support of his unique advisor, Elon Musk, whose
business ventures have taken a sour turn as of late.
To assist Trump with his purchase, the South Lawn was
temporarily turned into a Tesla showroom with five different models
parked in a row to choose which shiny new car

(00:49):
to buy. A significant portion of this Tesla sales event
was spent by Trump praising Elon Musk's work at DOGE
as well as Elon's business venture, and complaining about people
treating Elon Musk unfairly, saying that he quote shouldn't be
penalized because he's a patriot.

Speaker 3 (01:11):
I guess I'm just selling people this man is a
great patriot, and you.

Speaker 2 (01:15):
Should cherish him.

Speaker 4 (01:17):
You should cherish him.

Speaker 1 (01:18):
You know.

Speaker 5 (01:18):
I have a little statement we have to take care
of our high IQ people because we don't have too
many of them.

Speaker 2 (01:24):
We gotta take care of him. As for the cars,
Trump mentioned that he actually already bought a cyber truck
for his granddaughter Kai, which Trump called the coolest design,
but this time he chose a red Tesla model s.
Upon climbing in the car, that secret service does not
allow him to operate, Trump remarked, Wow, everything's computer. At

(01:49):
the end of the live streamed Tesla commercial, Trump said
that he would pay with a check, though for the
duration of the event, Trump served as both buyer and salesman.
He read off from a sheet of notes on pricing
and features for various Tesla models, like how quote Tesla's
can be purchased for as low as two ninety nine
a month.

Speaker 3 (02:09):
So I have a lot of information that turned into pritic.

Speaker 2 (02:12):
Yeah, I want to make a good deal here, you know,
I do notice this they have won, which is thirty
five thousand dollars, which is pretty low.

Speaker 4 (02:21):
What is that all about?

Speaker 2 (02:23):
This whole charad was an explicit attempt to rescue Tesla's
plummeting stock price and help foster a new demographic of
electric car buyers. Anti will conservatives looking to show support
of Elon Musk, Doge, and the new Trump administration through
consumer purchases. Trumb himself said that he hoped doing ads
for Tesla on the White House driveway would help Tesla's

(02:45):
stock value and encouraged others to buy Elon's cars. The
next day, Tesla shares did rise four percent, but are
now trending back down amid a global wave of protests
against Tesla for Musks involved mint with Doge and the
Trump administration, as well as Elon's Nazi curious behavior. Trump

(03:07):
has tried to face this wave of hate against his
new best friend, head On Truthing on his platform of
choice Truth Social last week quote Elon Musk is putting
it on the line in order to help our nation,
and he is doing a fantastic job. But the radical
left lunatics, as they often do, are trying to illegally

(03:28):
and collusively boycott Tesla, one of the world's greatest automakers,
and Elon's quote unquote baby, in order to attack and
do harm to Elon and everything he stands for. They
tried to do it to me at the twenty twenty
four presidential ballot box. But how did that work out? Unquote.
There's a lot to impact there, from Trump calling Tesla

(03:52):
Elon's baby, despite Elon carrying around his baby at the
White House near twenty four to seven, to bizarrely declaring
protest boycotts as illegal. Not only has Trump called the
Tesla boycott illegal, but during the White House car commercial,
he announced that vandalism of Tesla's will be labeled as
domestic terrorism, promising that perpetrators will quote unquote go through hell.

(04:17):
White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said, quote ongoing and heinous
acts of violence against Tesla by radical leftist activists are
nothing short of domestic terror unquote. There certainly has been
a surge of violence targeted at Tesla vehicles and dealerships,
which I will discuss in detail later this episode, but

(04:39):
for the past months, there's also been a wave of
nonviolent protests and mass mobilization against Musk and Tesla at
dealerships all around the country and even overseas, which the
aforementioned boycott is a part of the quote unquote Tesla
takedown protests call to quote sell your Tesla's, dump your stock,

(05:00):
the picket lines. We're tanking Tesla's stock price to stop
Musk unquote. Their website has a map of Tesla dealerships
around the world and a list of upcoming protests at
various locations, which can be searched through via zip code.
There have been reoccurring weekly protests at dealerships every Saturday

(05:20):
in cities across the country, with demonstrations at more than
fifty Tesla showrooms attracting crowds of between dozens to a thousand,
like in Tucson, Arizona. The boycotts and public demonstrations certainly
aren't helping Tesla's stock price and international reputation, but they
are not the only display of displeasure directed at Elon

(05:43):
and Tesla, as others are employing more direct methods to
damage the company. Beyond peaceful protests, picketing's short lived dealership occupations,
and waiving anti Elon Musk signs outside Tesla stores, Tesla
vehicles themselves have become the nation's hottest graffiti mural service.

(06:05):
Actually around the world, people have been using Tesla's to
scribble epithets against Elon Musk and Donald Trump. Even some
eco conscious owners of Tesla vehicles have defaced their own
cars with stickers that read I bought this before he
was a Nazi, which, hey, you can also put on
your old Kanye West records. Speaking of Kanye West, some

(06:28):
individuals have taken to marking Tesla's with a swastika, which
at first raised eyebrows and confused some investigators, as typically
when there's swastika graffiti, it's supposed to be anti Semitic
in nature, whereas in this case, based on external factors,
this is most likely a public attempt to link Elon

(06:49):
Musk and Tesla with Nazism, following Musk's own anti Semitic posts,
fall Right politics, and the whole salute thing. Stickers and
flyers have spread from the UK to San Francisco, reading
don't buy a Swasta car, but it's not all stickers
and graffiti. We'll talk about the other Tesla attacks after

(07:11):
this ad break. Okay, we're back. One of the most
bizarre instances of Tesla vandalism was when forty four wheels
were stolen off twelve unsold Teslas in a Texas parking

(07:33):
lot on Valentine's Day. Investigators say they don't currently have
any leads since the nearby security cameras weren't recording and
the Tesla cameras were not active. These Teslas were actually
being stored in an Amazon parking lot six miles away
from their home dealership. Allegedly, Tesla is contracting with other
businesses to store their cars. A midwave of vandalism at

(07:56):
Tesla dealerships. On March eleventh, wheels were damaged on multiple
vehicles at a Tesla dealership in Dedham, Massachusetts. In Meyers, California,
Tesla superchargers keep being sabotaged, with epoxy found in the
charging cable and anti elon musk graffiti with chargers marked
with swastikas. Seven Tesla charging stations at a shopping center

(08:19):
were arsened outside of Boston, Massachusetts, on March third, and
on March seventh, Maltov cocktails were thrown at a Tesla
charging station in South Carolina, with long live Ukraine on
the ground in red paint. A twenty four year old
man was taken into custody on March thirteenth. But it's
not just wheel thefts and supercharger sabotage. Tesla dealerships have

(08:44):
been a target for anti musk graffiti, vandalism, and armed attacks.
Some commentators have been conflating the picketing protests and graffiti
with actual instances of arson and property destruction. People like
libs of TikTok labeling simple spray paint as quote unquote
trans violence or trans terrorism, which is not to say

(09:07):
some people aren't taking a more destructive approach towards their
elon musk grievances. Whether that qualifies as terrorism is another
issue though. On January twentieth, a man wearing black pulling
a wheelie cart approached a Tesla dealership in Salem, Oregon,
and threw a Molotov cocktail at a cyber truck. Surveillance
footage shows the man pull out ignite and throw three

(09:30):
more Molotov cocktails from his rolling cart before realizing an
eyewitness is charging their Tesla nearby. The man in black
pulls out a suppressor mounted AR style rifle and points
it at the witness as they drive away, before continuing
to throw more Molotov cocktails at parked vehicles. A rock
was used to break the glass of the dealership showroom,

(09:51):
and another Molotov cocktail was thrown inside the building. A
criminal complaint claims that this incident caused around five hundred
thousand dollars in day damage to the dealership, including damaging
seven Tesla vehicles. A month later, on February nineteenth, the
same dealership was hit again, this time with gun shots
breaking through windows and hitting vehicles. In early March, a

(10:15):
forty one year old man was arrested in connection to
both incidents, with court documents claiming fingerprints were identified on
recovered glass bottles used for explosive devices, and the suspects
car was identified in footage captured by a police car
parked near the Tesla dealership a bit north of Salem.
In Tigered, Oregon, there have been two incidents of gunshots

(10:36):
being fired at a Testa dealership just this month. A
Tigered police press release reads quote for the second time
in a week, Tigered police are investigating shots fired at
a Tesla dealership. Early this morning, March thirteen, twenty twenty five,
around four fifteen am, more than a dozen shots were
fired at the dealership, causing extensive damage to cars and

(10:57):
showroom windows. Unquote. There's also been a series of incidents
at a Tesla dealership in northern Colorado. A spree of
anti musk graffiti and vandalism started in January, with Malotov
cocktail style and scendiary devices found on the scene. On
February seventh, police responded to a call about graffiti and
possible arson at the dealership. A few days later, a

(11:20):
security guard confronted an individual spray painting the front windows
of the dealership, and on February twenty fourth, a suspect
was arrested at the dealership allegedly in possession of bottles
and gasoline. She was charged. In late February, another person
was arrested allegedly in connection to a similar, yet unrelated

(11:43):
incident at the very same dealership in Loveland, Colorado. After
Malotov cocktail style device was found burning between two Tesla
vehicles on March seventh, rocks were also used to damage
both the building and multiple cars. At around eleven pm.
On Sunday Day, March ninth, four cyber trucks erupted into

(12:03):
flames at a Tesla parking lot in Seattle, Washington. On Monday,
March seventeenth, two cyber trucks were set on fire at
a dealership in Kansas City. Here's how local TV news
reported the incident.

Speaker 3 (12:15):
Around eleven PM, officers were called to a fire at.

Speaker 2 (12:18):
A car lot car Hire.

Speaker 1 (12:21):
In the parking lot.

Speaker 3 (12:22):
A CACPD officer was close by when he noticed smoke
coming from a Tesla cybertruck. The officer used his fire
extinguisher to try to put out the flames, but the
fire continued to spread. CACFD was called into help.

Speaker 4 (12:35):
Our crews got unseen and the fire was in two
cyber trucks. It had spread from one to the other.
We were able to get water on them. Copy of
amounts for water Get the Fire out book.

Speaker 3 (12:46):
Now federal agencies are getting involved. We saw an ATF
officer with a bag of evidence. They say this incident
follow similar reports from across the country of violence at
Tesla dealerships. I mean you're eventually gangig than. Reaction to
this incident has been mixed, with some condemning the crime
and others who see it as a former protest towards

(13:07):
the automaker.

Speaker 2 (13:09):
And just a few days ago, on March eighteenth, an
individual addressed in all black fired gunshots and through Maltov cocktails,
damaging five cars at a Tesla service center in Las Vegas.
The Las Vegas Review Journal writes that the FBI Joint
Terrorism task Force is investigating the matter. Quote agents arrived
at the scene early Tuesday, according to FBI Special Agent

(13:31):
in Charge Spencer Evans. Evans said that while it was
too early to call the attack in active terrorism, it
had quote unquote some of the hallmarks and a potential
political agenda unquote. Now this particular instant in Las Vegas
really got to Elon Musk, who spent the rest of
the day complaining on Twitter that Tesla has quote done

(13:54):
nothing to deserve these evil attacks unquote. Attacks on Tesla
have not been contained to the United States. In early
March twelve, Tesla's parked outside of a dealership in southern
France were set ablaze, and outside Berlin, unknown persons set
fire to a high voltage transmission line on a power pylon,

(14:16):
cutting power to a massive Tesla manufacturing plant in Germany
for multiple days. This follows a series of direct actions
and a forest encampment where the Tesla gigafactory seeks to
expand by leveling two hundred and fifty acres of forest.
The German forest encampment lasted nine months before being successfully
raided by police this last November, with police destroying treehouses

(14:39):
and trashing tents after the whole my heart goes out
to use salute and subsequent endorsement of AfD. Musk's reputation
in Germany specifically is suffering steep decline. To quote the
Washington Post quote, Tesla stock has fallen by more than
thirty five percent since Trump's inauguration and last year the

(14:59):
comp but he suffered its first annual sales drop in
more than a decade. In Germany, Tesla car sales plummeted
by seventy six percent in February compared with a year earlier,
according to figures released Wednesday, and some owners have expressed
buyer's remorse over owning a car some now see as
a symbol of far right politics, a stark departure from

(15:22):
the environmental consciousness it was epitomized. And we'll talk more
about how these protests are affecting Tesla's international reputation after
this ad break. Okay, we're back.

Speaker 6 (15:45):
Right.

Speaker 2 (15:45):
After the November election, Tesla stock surged to a never
before seen high of one point five four trillion dollars,
but as Musk's direct involvement in the government was ramped up,
Tesla has fallen to about seven hundred and seventy seven billion.
The massively inflated value of Tesla stock is directly related

(16:07):
to the public perception of Elon Musk and Tesla stock
greatly determines Musk's own net worth, which is down more
than one hundred and forty billion from this past December peak.
When Elon's reputation gets damaged, so does Tesla's and vice versa.
Tesla stock has been declining for nine consecutive weeks. JP

(16:30):
Morgan analysts recently said that Tesla has lost so much
value so quick that there really isn't any comparison. Quote.
We struggle to think of anything analogous in the history
of the automotive industry in which of brand has lost
so much value so quickly unquote, and Forbes writes quote.
Last week, JP Morgan analysts described the recent melting of

(16:51):
Tesla's perception, especially in pockets of the world in which
Musk inserted himself into right wing politics, such as Germany.
About fifty three percent of response to a CNN poll
published last week said that they hold a negative opinion
of Musk, compared to roughly thirty five percent with a
positive view and eleven percent with no take unquote. Overseas,

(17:12):
Tesla sales in general are way down, even as electric
vehicle purchasing is going up. New data from the European
Automotive Manufacturers Association show that Tesla registrations in the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland,
and the UK have dropped by forty five percent when
you compare January twenty twenty four to January twenty twenty five.

(17:36):
And this decline from Tesla comes as overall electric vehicle
sales have increased thirty seven percent in the same January
twenty four to twenty five head to head comparison. China's
own evs are surpassing Tesla in global production and sales
in China, which is a huge EV market, and Chinese

(17:57):
manufacturer BYD is on track to over take Tesla in
global sales this year. And so if you consider the
Tesla protests as a sort of public display of unhappiness
with Tesla and Elon Musk, combined with all these other
economic factors impacting the automaker, if these trends continue, Musk

(18:17):
and Tesla could be in real trouble. After the Las
Vegas attack this Tuesday, Musk went onto Fox News to
explain the situation as he sees it.

Speaker 6 (18:27):
Yeah, it turns out when you take away people's you
know what, the money they're receiving. Fortunately, they get very
upset and they basically want to kill me because I'm
stopping their fraud and they want to hurt Tesla because
they're stopping this terrible waste and corruption in the government.

(18:50):
And well, I guess they're bad people. Bad people will
do bad things.

Speaker 2 (18:57):
Essentially, Tesla is seen as an extension of Elon, and
right now, Elon is seen as an extension of the
Trump government, and even if people feel powerless to stop
the government, hurting Tesla is seen as a much more
achievable goal with ripple effects that reach Elon, Doge and
the Trump administration. And compared to protesting the government, Tesla

(19:21):
is a soft target, with cars and dealerships all across
the country, not just in state capitals or in Washington,
d C. Whereas government facilities are typically hard targets by
both being less accessible and more protected. JP Morgan Analysts wrote, quote,
mister Musk's work with the Department of Government Efficiency has

(19:42):
proven controversial domestically, and while as many members of the
political right may be pleased as those on the left
are displeased. The effect on Tesla sales seems nevertheless negative. Unquote.
Musk is certainly trying to make the best of it
by tapping into the previous, sleep untapped ev markets of

(20:02):
mega conservatives. And though the Tesla brand is gaining popularity
amongst conservatives, that demographic is just far less likely than
liberals to actually switch from a gas to electric car. Still,
the President and conservative media have been doing a lot
of free Tesla commercials. Last week, Sean Hannity announced on

(20:23):
air that he would be buying a Tesla.

Speaker 5 (20:25):
I don't believe in cancelation. I don't believe in cancel culture,
you know. And I know maybe it's not going to
make up a difference, but you know what, after I
drove my friends Tesla, I went and I already picked
out the one I want. It's called the what is
it called the s Plaid? And do you realize this thing?
An electric vehicle has one thousand and six horsepower and

(20:50):
goes from zero to sixty two in two point zero seconds.
And this thing rips and you can go about four
hundred miles without a charge. And I don't drive enough
to go further than four hundred miles, So I'm good.
And maybe it's just a gesture on my part, and
I like it. I like new technology, but it's just
a way of saying, you know, look what they're doing

(21:11):
to this guy.

Speaker 2 (21:12):
On Friday, March fourteenth, Attorney General Pam Bondi said that
she is opening an investigation into the attacks against Tesla. Quote,
if you're going to touch a Tesla, go to a dealership,
do anything, you better watch out because we're coming after you. Unquote.
She released a statement on Tuesday after the Las Vegas arson, writing, quote,

(21:34):
the swarm of violent attacks on Tesla property is nothing
short of domestic terrorism unquote. Musk just can't seem to
understand that tons of regular people really hate him now,
and instead has to invent some grand conspiracy against him.

(21:54):
Here's how he explained it on Fox News.

Speaker 6 (21:57):
Yeah. I mean, it's really come as quite a shock
to me that there's this level of really hatred and
violence from the left. I thought the left of the
Democrats were supposed to be the party of empathy, the
party of caring, and yet they're burning down cars, they're
fire bombing dealerships, they're firing bullets into dealerships. They're just

(22:22):
you know, smashing up Tesla's. Tesla is a peaceful company.
We've never done anything hopeful. I've never done anything howpful.
I've only done productive things. So I think we just
have a deranged It's there's there's some kind of mental
illness thing going on here, because this doesn't make any sense. Yeah,
and I think there are larger forces at work as well.

(22:44):
I mean, I don't know who's finding it and who's coordinating,
because this is this is crazy. I've never seen anything
like this.

Speaker 2 (22:51):
On X the Everything app. Musk is much more open
about who he suspects are these larger forces. Musk has
claims that quote unquote multiple Democrat NGOs are coordinating quote
attacks on Tesla dealerships, staff, and vehicles. Last night, a
number of cyber trucks were torched in Seattle. Democrats are

(23:13):
becoming increasingly more desperate and violent unquote people, and Musk's
replies posted about how protesters are being paid by quote
Democrat fundraising platform Act Blue, which is funded by Soros unquote.
Act Blue seems to be the right's new favorite conspiracy topic.
From claiming that you said was illegally laundering money to

(23:37):
Democrats through Act Blue, and now that Act Blue itself
has the ability to funnel money to activist groups. Act
Blue doesn't give away money or directly fund anything. It's
a donation based platform for registered organizations. This is like
saying go fundme paid for your top surgery. No people

(23:58):
donated on a fundraising platform. But nevertheless, this claim is
going gangbusters on X the Everything app and being boosted
by Musk and his associates. A popular right wing politics
account on X called insurrection Barbie posted that quote attacks
on the Tesla dealerships, which have been linked to the

(24:19):
Indivisible Project, a left of stalin ngo that organizes street
protests for the Democratic Party with shady prepaid debit cards
that they run through Act Blue, are committing economic terrorism
meant to tank Tesla's stock and drive a wedge between
Musk and Trump. Unquote. Elon himself has claimed that a

(24:43):
mysterious investigation quote unquote has found quote five Act Blue
funded groups responsible for the Tesla protests, Troublemakers, Disruption, Project,
Rise and Resist, Indivisible Project, and Democratic Socialists of America.
Act Blue funders include George Soros Reed Hoffman, Herbert Sandler,

(25:06):
Patricia Bowman, and Leah Hunt Hendrix. If you know anything
about this, please post in the replies. Thanks Elon unquote. Now,
the main organizations behind the Tesla takedown protests, two activist
groups called the Troublemakers and the Disruption Project, don't even

(25:27):
fundraise on Act Blue that they have no affiliation, but
that hasn't stopped Elon from targeting specific activists and accusing
them of committing crimes simply for organizing pickets outside stores.
Meanwhile invoking the old antisemitic George Soros conspiracy as Elon
himself has funneled hundreds of millions of dollars to right

(25:48):
wing politicians this past year and has threatened to primary
any Republican Congressman who doesn't cave on Trump's agenda. So anyway,
that is what's happening with Tesla derangement sin ndrome all
across the country and even the world. Every day it
feels like we are getting closer and closer to the

(26:09):
cool zone. See you on the other side, It could happen.

Speaker 1 (26:16):
Here is a production of cool Zone Media. For more
podcasts from Cool Zone Media, visit our website Coolzonemedia. Dot
com or check us out on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts,
or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can now find
sources for it could happen here, listed directly in episode descriptions.
Thanks for listening,

All Episodes

Episode Transcript

It Could Happen Here News

Follow Us On

Hosts And Creators

Robert Evans

Garrison Davis

James Stout

Show Links

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know

Dateline NBC

24/7 News: The Latest

.css-15opob5{left:0;position:absolute;top:0.8rem;} All Episodes

.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Behind the Tesla Attacks