Nothing says "I believe in free expression" like falsely accusing protesters of crimes and unleashing an online mob. The world's richest man-child is having a meltdown because folks are exercising their constitutional rights outside his precious car showrooms.
In The Guardian, Valerie Costa (co-founder of Troublemakers and a longtime Seattle-based activist for environmental justice) wrote that Musk has been rage-tweeting false accusations her and and protest organizers:
I woke up to a nightmare of notifications. On Sunday, it got worse. Elon Musk had tweeted and amplified inflammatory lies about me and Tesla Takedown, a growing national grassroots movement peacefully protesting at Tesla showrooms that I'm proudly a part of. Musk tweeted: "Costa is committing crimes."
Meanwhile his overpriced electric status symbol company is losing value faster than his Twitter acquisition:
Tesla stock has fallen precipitously, losing a quarter of its value in the months since the protests began. On Wednesday, JP Morgan analysts told Quartz: "We struggle to think of anything analogous in the history of the automotive industry, in which a brand has lost so much value so quickly."
You know you've hit a nerve when JP Morgan analysts are basically saying "wow, we've never seen someone torpedo their own company this spectacularly before."
The Tesla Takedown movement is basically a bunch of regular people with cardboard signs standing on public sidewalks, yet Commander Hairplug is treating it like an existential threat. Costa wrote:
I'd like to address the lies spread about me by the world's richest man and X users. I have not committed any crimes. I have not been funded by ActBlue, or by George Soros – that name is simply a tired antisemitic dog whistle. I'm not inspired by Luigi Mangione nor have I ever said that I am. I am not encouraging any vandalism. Nobody is getting paid to come to these protests. I am not the leader of Tesla Takedown. In fact, no one is… All of this is a bare-bones, low-budget, people-powered movement – which is exactly why Musk is afraid of it, and casting about to find a villain.
Nearly 100 Tesla Takedown protests are planned for this weekend.
Previously:
• Tesla stock face-plants after latest Musk meltdown
• Krugman: 'America is now trapped in a burning Tesla'
• Donald Trump warns Tesla protestors: 'You're going to go through hell' (video)
