Understanding the Tesla Protests: What's Fueling the Controversy?

Elon Musk could be the richest man in the world and stay unbeatable for decades—if he just sat still. But that doesn’t seem to interest him. He keeps making blunders, especially when it comes to work, and honestly, that’s not a good look.

If I were on Tesla’s board right now, I’d be furious. I might even ask him to step down—even though I know it wouldn’t be that simple.

Thing is, all the stuff happening with Tesla could’ve been avoided. How? Musk should’ve just stayed out of politics and kept building like the other billionaires. Look at Jeff Bezos—he doesn’t jump into stuff he’s not good at, and most of the others don’t either.

If Musk could just chill, Tesla wouldn’t be paying the price.

Like I said before, Tesla kind of became a victim because of Musk. He built the brand so closely around himself that now a lot of people see Tesla and Musk as one and the same—which honestly isn’t wrong. He’s been selling Tesla with his name front and center this whole time so people would remember him. But the flip side is, when there’s a problem with Musk, people turn on Tesla too.

The same thing has happened with other brands—like McDonald’s and some other franchises that got boycotted in some Islamic countries because they were seen as supporting Israel. People can’t just go after Musk in Washington, DC, so they go after Tesla instead.

And honestly, a lot of this is Musk’s own doing. From jumping into politics and messing around with crypto like DOGE (which probably caused some people to lose jobs or money) to that whole mess with Trump and the Nazi salute scandal—especially in Europe. That really tanked his image over there. But it kind of seems like Musk is okay with that trade-off if it means he can push his political agenda. He’s already rich anyway, right?

If he had just kept a lower profile, Tesla probably wouldn’t be taking this much heat. Sure, some people might not be fans of Tesla for their own reasons, but I doubt they’d be destructive or violent about it. I mean, yeah, Tesla’s not the highest-quality car out there, but they’re learning and improving. Nothing about that would make people this angry. It’s a pretty minor issue, and it could’ve been handled easily—if it weren’t for all the drama tied to Musk himself.

That’s the result of what Musk did. He seems fully aware that his political moves wouldn’t be popular, but he went ahead anyway—probably for reasons that aren’t too far from wanting more power. If he had just stayed in his lane as a businessman, those protests probably wouldn’t have happened. A lot of people are mad at him over DOGE and his decision to jump into politics.

The protests and vandalism around Tesla are kind of side effects of all that. Honestly, they might’ve been avoided if Musk had decided to just stay quiet—but it seems like he knew exactly what he was getting into. I think he’s willing to let Tesla take some hits if that’s the price of getting more involved in U.S. politics. And clearly, he thinks it’s worth it.

This stuff was pretty much unavoidable. It’s all tied to Musk’s ambition, and I’d bet he saw it coming. And maybe he also felt that it was something he didn't really care about; at least he had a lot of money and wasn't chasing it anymore.

I think that's a consequence, but Musk has thought about it and he doesn't have a problem with it.