*The name of this interviewee is a pseudonym to protect their confidentiality.
“Tesla Takedown” demonstrators chant in front of Stanford Mall’s Tesla showroom every Saturday. They protest against Elon Musk’s work as head of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, and his involvement with the Trump administration.
Since January, Tesla has seen a 13% decrease in vehicle sales and as much as a 40% drop in stock prices. Tesla profits dropped 71% in the first three months of the year, per the company’s recent annual report.
Attacks on Tesla showrooms, cars, and superchargers have led the FBI to create a task force to “crack down on violent Tesla attacks” with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The FBI issued an advisory to Tesla drivers to exercise “extreme caution” early last month.
Tesla Takedown holds protests in locations across the world, including weekly protests at the Stanford Tesla showroom. Peaceful protesters have also taken to the streets.
“I got involved because I was, and still am, scared about what’s going on in our country and in the federal government,” Tesla Takedown organizer Scott* said. “Elon Musk has inserted himself into the machinery of the federal government. He wasn’t elected. He never came before Congress to be approved. He’s not a cabinet member. He is just this guy. The only reason why he’s in that position is because he’s worth a lot of money.”
Musk, the richest person in the world, owns $93.7 billion—about 12.8%—worth of Tesla stock, which makes up a quarter of his $363.6 billion net worth.
“If he wasn’t worth a lot of money, maybe he would have far less influence. I think the whole Tesla Takedown movement was started to see if normal people could affect the value of Tesla, because that has a direct impact on Elon Musk,” Scott said. “There’s not a whole lot else that can be done because he has no governmental oversight.”
The influence of money in politics is a major issue that protesters would like to see change. “I would reverse Citizens United,” Scott said, referencing the 2013 Supreme Court ruling that protected the right of unions and corporations to independently fund political campaigns under the First Amendment.
Elon Musk spent about $260 million on President Donald Trump in the 2025 presidential election, pouring $238 million into Trump’s political action committee and offering millions of dollars in a lottery for registered voters in swing states.
“If a person is a billionaire, does this mean that their opinions are more important than yours or mine or my wife’s or your parents?” Scott said. “That’s not democratic.”
“My daughter is 13. I want her to grow up in a country with a functional government,” he added.
Others worry about Musk’s reliability due to drug use. “He’s publicly admitted to being on ketamine,” Olivia* said. “It’s a drug that makes you think you’re more powerful than you are.” “He uses coke, ecstasy, and molly,” she adds.
A Wall Street Journal investigation in January found Musk had used illegal drugs including LSD, cocaine, ecstasy, mushrooms, and ketamine. Musk recently defended his use of ketamine in a video interview with Don Lemon, arguing it pulled him out of a “negative chemical state.”
Protesters target Musk as a keystone of current policy. “Trump just wants to be on TV every day. He’s an idiot,” Olivia* said. “Musk is just taking control.”
Musk’s employment slashes also concerned demonstrators. “I had contacts with the government when I was in education, and those are good, hard-working people there. He’s treating them as chips, firing them without notice,” Olivia said.
Rather than fighting against the Republican party, protesters see themselves as opposing the undue influence of the wealthy in government. “I have so much more in common with MAGA Republicans than I do with Mark Zuckerberg or Elon Musk,” Scott said.
“We’ve just been programmed differently, and we’ve been conditioned differently by people who want to remain rich and powerful. The more they can confuse us, the more they can remain rich and powerful. That’s what I would want to tell the MAGA Republicans: I’m not the enemy, dude, I really am not. I’m just a normal person,” Scott said.
