‘This is not over:' Tesla Takedown protesters keep pressure on Elon Musk despite DOGE exit

CNN

5 hours ago

Demonstrations against tech billionaire Elon Musk are continuing, even after the Tesla CEO stepped away from his role leading the Department of Government Efficiency and engaged in an all-out feud this week with Donald Trump over the president's massive tax and domestic policy bill known as the 'big, beautiful bill.'
Musk, who contributed $288 million to Trump's 2024 presidential campaign, called the bill a 'disgusting abomination' just days after announcing he would leave DOGE, his federal cost-cutting project. As the two traded jabs, Trump threatened to cut government contracts for Musk's companies and Musk claimed that 'Trump would have lost the election' without him.
Anti-Musk sentiment spilled onto sidewalks outside of Tesla showrooms with 60 demonstrations scheduled Saturday in cities such as Delray Beach, Florida; Louisville, Kentucky; and Decatur, Georgia, as part of the Tesla Takedown movement, which began in mid-February amid Musk's role with DOGE.
At 11:30 a.m. ET, a crowd of about 30 demonstrators had gathered outside of a Tesla showroom on a rainy morning in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, DC.
Attendance for the Tesla Takedown event was well short of the roughly 200 who showed up last week in Rockville, Maryland, according to local co-organizers Melissa Knutson and Sara Steffens, who cited the weather and Pride Month events for the lower turnout.
'This is not over because (Musk) decided to go home with his tail between his legs,' Knutson told CNN.
The Tesla Takedown movement, according to its website, calls on people to 'sell your Teslas, dump your stock and join the picket lines' and believes that 'stopping Musk will help save lives and protect our democracy.'
Tesla sales plunged 13% in the first three months of this year, the largest drop in deliveries in its history. Shares of Tesla (TSLA) dropped roughly 14% this week and are down nearly 47% from the high of $488.54 on December 18.
Steffens said she 'was really encouraged' to see Tesla's stock plunge this week. 'It just shows none of this is normal,' she said.
Musk, the world's richest man, has blamed a drop in sales on overall economic weakness and consumer uncertainty, though sales for competing EV models and other car companies rose.
Neither Tesla nor Alex Winter, one of the initial lead organizers for Tesla Takedown, responded to CNN's requests for comment.
Musk's exit from DOGE, his now-strained relationship with Trump, slumping Tesla sales and the drop in the company's share price do not mean the Tesla Takedown movement is ending anytime soon, according to attendees and organizers.
After Musk announced he was leaving DOGE, the Bluesky account for Tesla Takedown called for protests on Saturday, June 28 (Musk's birthday), as a way of 'recommitting to the fight.'
'We are tired of the billionaire takeover and we are not letting up,' Knutson said.
Steffens noted some protesters have called on pension funds to divest from Tesla. The public backlash is part of the reason that long-term institutional investors sent a letter to Tesla's board in late May raising concerns about the company.
Many of the protesters in Georgetown on Saturday attended previous demonstrations and said they have no plans to stop protesting despite Musk's departure from DOGE.
Jeanne Ferris told CNN that this was her fifth Tesla protest and that she agrees with organizers that 'Musk's tendrils' are still involved with the government.
James Decherd said he attends protests almost every week because 'it's nice to be out with other people.' He added that he hopes to 'get people motivated' and 'mobilized.'
Donna Powell says she and her husband have attended between 50 and 60 rallies against the Trump administration. She described Musk and Trump as 'billionaire brats having a tiff.'
She does not expect Trump supporters to join the demonstrations as an act of solidarity with the president after Musk's attacks on X. She said Trump's base isn't 'the type to go 'anti-Musk.''
'In the long run, (Trump and Musk) rely on each other, so they'll work something out,' said her husband, Don Powell.
CNN's John Towfighi, Anna Cooban and Chris Isidore contributed to this report.