Tesla drivers don't deserve your middle finger. Elon Musk is not their fault

Miami Herald

09-03-2025

This is an anxious time for Tesla drivers.
Thanks to Elon Musk, they are being flipped off, yelled at and threatened. Their cars are being keyed and plastered with 'Nazi' stickers, and vandals are targeting dealerships and defacing charging stations — including some Tesla superchargers in California's El Dorado County that were recently painted with swastikas.
Unfortunately for drivers, there is no guarantee that slapping one of those 'I bought this before Elon went crazy' stickers on the bumper will serve as protection.
On Reddit, for example, a poster in Sacramento reported that someone shouted obscenities at her 78-old-year mother and threw garbage at her older-model Tesla — and yes, it did have an anti-Elon sticker.
'I really hope calling a grandma a (expletive) hypocrite fascist' and nearly causing an accident made you feel better about yourself,' the poster continued. 'Find more constructive ways to express your opinion and generate the change you wish to see.'
Great advice.
Who's driving that Tesla?
Look, there is no way of telling who is behind the wheel of a Tesla.
Sure, the driver of that obnoxious, $90,000 Cybertruck could be a proud Trump/Musk supporter who just loves sticking it to the 'libs.'
But the average Tesla driver is far more likely to be a liberal Democrat who bought the car years ago, motivated at least in part by concern about the environment.
Bullying them is cruel, and demanding they trade in their Teslas — or even worse, junk them — is questionable.
Should we really be taking used EVs out of commission at the same time that President Donald Trump is eviscerating clean energy programs?
Besides, not all Tesla owners are in a financial position to swap out their vehicles, like the driver who posted this on Threads: 'You can flip off my car all you want. I flip it off too. But don't get confused, I am not aligned with a Nazi. I wish to sell it, but the struggle to be car-less would make survival difficult.'
Drivers like these are not stand-ins for Elon Musk.
They deserve empathy — not a threatening note or a load of garbage or even a middle finger.
Tesla Takedown
There are more effective ways to oppose an eccentric, egomaniacal billionaire who, with the blessing of Trump, is radically and recklessly gutting our government under the pretense of making it more 'efficient.'
An organized campaign called Tesla Takedown has a strategy that does not involve risking arrest or throwing garbage at grandmas.
Here it is: 'Sell your Teslas, dump your stock, join the picket lines.' (Again, I'm not a fan of dumping Teslas on other buyers — it's a bit like sticking someone else with a lemon — but at least they'll be aware of what they're in for.)
Tesla Takedown protests are listed on Action Network — a nonprofit that provides a digital platform to advance progressive causes. The events, which almost always take place in front of Tesla dealerships, are happening at cities across the country, including Sacramento, Fresno and San Luis Obispo.
Another tactic Musk opponents suggest: If you have an EV, avoid using Tesla superchargers, which are now open to both Teslas and EVs from other automakers like Ford and GM. The supercharging network is projected to grow into a cash cow, earning Tesla between $10 and $20 billion a year by the end of the decade.
'Do something'
It's hard to say how much the protests and boycotts have hurt the market for Teslas. Musk's far-right politics had already been alienating customers, both here and abroad, long before the opposition ramped up its efforts.
But there is no question that EV orders have been tanking, especially in California, and Tesla stock has been on a downward spiral, dropping nearly 35% so far this year.
Whatever its economic impact, the Tesla Takedown movement has emerged as a powerful outlet for people looking for constructive ways to vent against the current administration.
That's critical, because so far most attempts to mount a unified resistance have been weak at best and laughable at worst.
That was painfully apparent during Trump's speech to the joint houses of Congress, where reactions from Democrats were all over the map.
Rep. Al Green got himself ejected from the House Chambers — and later censured — for shaking his cane at Trump and yelling about Medicare cuts.
Several female lawmakers wore pink to show their disgust with how the president is treating women and families.
Some men and women walked out mid-speech.
Still others held up paddles that said things like 'Save Medicaid,' 'Musk Steals' and 'False.'
It came across as disjointed — even juvenile. Reviews from pundits on both the left and right were scathing, and demands that Democratic leaders 'do something' got even louder.
The question is, what to do?
This is one of the most chaotic times in American history. There is no handbook telling people how to respond.
But this much is clear: We must never lose sight of who is ultimately responsible for what is happening to our country.
That would be the Trump administration — not a 78-year-old woman behind the wheel of a Tesla.
So please, spare her the middle finger.