Backlash continues against Elon Musk’s role with DOGE as demonstrations at Tesla showrooms enter fifth week

Demonstrators rally outside a Tesla showroom in Rockville, Maryland, on March 22. Auzinea Bacon/CNN via CNN Newsource

Elon Musk’s role in slashing federal government staffing and budgets as the head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency continues to draw backlash, as nearly 90 Tesla showrooms across the United States face demonstrations Saturday in the fifth week of the “Tesla Takedown” movement.

The demonstrations, according to the Tesla Takedown website, want people to “sell your Teslas” and “dump your stock,” as a way of reprimanding Musk, who owns a sizable stake in the electric vehicle maker.

The Tesla Takedown movement was kickstarted by Hollywood actor and filmmaker Alex Winter and Joan Donovan, an assistant professor of journalism and emerging studies at Boston University. There are now local organizers in about 28 states and Washington, DC, and the Tesla showrooms have drawn a growing number of demonstrators, who have carried signs like “Honk if you hate Elon” and “Sell your swasticar.”

Tesla did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.

DOGE has not slowed down in its sweeping efforts to dismantle or overhaul federal agencies. On Monday, the department attempted to shut down the United States Institute of Peace, an independent nonprofit agency, and CNN reported on March 13 that DOGE had proposed cutting 20 per cent of the staff at the Internal Revenue Service by May 15.

“There’s no walk of life that DOGE doesn’t touch,” Donovan told CNN. “That’s reflected in the diversity of people that come to these protests.”

A demonstration that began at about 11 a.m. ET outside a Tesla showroom in Rockville, Maryland, drew a crowd of over 400 people — roughly the same attendance as last week but a sharp uptick since the start of the campaign, according to demonstrators who spoke to CNN.

One of the demonstrators in Rockville was Karen Metchis, a 72-year-old former employee at the Environmental Protection Agency. Metchis told CNN the demonstration was much larger than the first one she attended in Rockville. She said it’s important for the public to see a movement, even if there is no immediate impact on Musk and U.S. President Donald Trump.

“It lets the public know that they’re not alone in their feelings and hopefully it builds a mass movement where it’s just not tenable for (the Trump’s administration) to continue doing what they’re doing,” she said.

Mike Murray, who works in public relations, said it was his first time attending a demonstration at a Tesla showroom. He called the demonstrations an example of “the American spirit at work.”

Glenn Popson, a 54-year-old who works in the tech sector, said Tesla drivers selling their vehicles and Tesla shareholders selling their stock will help convince Musk that Americans’ rights should be protected.

Musk, the world’s richest person, owns about 411 million shares of Tesla, or a 13 per cent stake in the company. He told employees Thursday in a meeting that was broadcast on his social media platform X to “hang on to your stock.” Shares of Tesla (TSLA) peaked at US$479.86 on December 17 but have since seen a 48 per cent decline, closing at US$248.71 on Friday.

From March 1 to March 16, Tesla vehicles from model year 2017 or newer made up 1.4 per cent of overall trade-ins — more than triple the rate (0.4 per cent) for March 2024, according to data from automotive site Edmunds.

“It shows that we’re getting to him,” said Popson.

Article written by Auzinea Bacon, CNN