Elon Musk has claimed that the Democratic party organized recent protests at Tesla locations worldwide. As he usually does with his wild claims lately, he hasnβt offered any proof whatsoever.
Over the last few weeks, there have been growing protests at Tesla locations around the word.
It started small with just a few locations in the US, but it has since grown to now dozens of locations every weekend, with sometimes hundreds of people at some locations.
Protestors have different reasons for wanting to disrupt Tesla, but they are mostly centered around seeing the company as Elon Muskβs piggybank and they are upset at his involvement in the government through his financial contribution to Trumpβs election and his role at the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Musk took to X today to comment on the situation, and he made the claim that the protests at Tesla locations are funded by ActBlue:
An investigation has found 5 ActBlue-funded groups responsible for Tesla βprotestsβ: Troublemakers, Disruption Project, Rise & Resist, Indivisible Project and Democratic Socialists of America. ActBlue funders include George Soros, Reid Hoffman, Herbert Sandler, Patricia Bauman, and Leah Hunt-Hendrix. ActBlue is currently under investigation for allowing foreign and illegal donations in criminal violation of campaign finance regulations. This week, 7 ActBlue senior officials resigned, including the associate general counsel.
ActBlue is aΒ political action committeeΒ (PAC) used by the Democratic Party.
Musk did not elaborate on what βinvestigationβ he was referring to nor did he provide any proof to back up his claim. In fact, he even asked for people to help provide information:
βIf you know anything about this, please post in replies.β
Musk directly named Reid Hoffman, his former Paypal Mafia friend turned foe due to political differences, who was quick to deny any involvement:
Just one more of Elonβs false claims about me: I never funded anyone for Tesla protests. I donβt condone violence. But itβs clear Americans are angry at him β itβs easier to explain away their anger, than to accept that actions have consequences.
While the Democratic Party could be sympathetic to the Tesla protestors, thereβs no evidence that they started the βTesla Takedownβ movement or have any significant involvement.
As we previously reported, it started as a grassroots movement with some posts on BlueSky, an X competitor, last month.
It has since gained considerable momentum, and they are now using Action Network, an open platform, to organize. As it grew, some groups have gotten involved to organize local protests, like The Disruption Project, which claims to stand βagainst the unjust systems of racial capitalism, the hetero-patriarchy, white supremacy and settler colonialism.β
In Seattle, The Troublemakers, a local environmentalist group, has also been helping organize.
The biggest blow to Muskβs claim is that there have also been protests outside the US, including in Canada and Europe. Itβs unlikely that the US Democratic party would be involved in those.
There are currently six protests planned in Europe by the βTesla Takedownβ in the coming weeks:
Musk has also been involved in European politics, promoting far-right parties throughout Europe.
Along with the claims about the Tesla protests, Musk also retweeted someone linking several Cybertrucks burning down at a Tesla location in Seattle to βDemocrat NGOsβ:
Again, this claim is without evidence. In fact, the fires are still under investigation and it hasnβt yet been confirmed if it was arson.
Electrekβs Take
Could the Democratic Party be involved in some of the protests? It wouldnβt shock me, but you can claim that without proof.
I think most people involved in the protests are just mad at Elon for any of the hundreds of stupid things he has done or said in the last few months, including doing a couple of Nazi salutes at Trumpβs inauguration.
He prefers to think that thereβs some grand conspiracy against him because thatβs easier to swallow than people hating home for being a compulsive liar, oligarch dork with the sense of humor of a maladjusted 13-year-old.
