from the dumpster-where-the-top-doesn’t-open-when-it’s-on-fire dept
The people have spoken. And by “people,” I mean “Elon Musk.” Trump is now buying into the batshit crazy that is the current Musk/Cybertruck discourse. This, of course, leaves the nominal VP plenty of time to get into long personal arguments with critics on Twitter. But it leaves the head DOGE free to bend Trump’s ear about the apparent unfairness of purchasers of Musk’s Pontiac Aztec 2.0 being treated like the white supremacist sympathizers a whole lot of them actually are.
Extremely recently, we covered the ridiculousness that is a Cybertruck owners’ group asking their Congressional reps to treat verbal and physical assaults (of them and/or their “trucks”) as “hate crimes” with enhanced sentences for those who dare to trifle with the Sheet Metal Squad.
It’s only been a couple of days into this news cycle and Trump has already responded with an equally stupid “solution” to the apparent “Americans hate Cybertrucks/Cybertruck owners” crisis. And it’s even better than any satirist could have expected.
First, Trump purchased himself a Tesla (but NOT a Cybertruck) and insisted on paying “full price” as a show of support for the beleaguered billionaire and his hated flagship product, which generally resembles a game asset that won’t load properly.
After posing proudly by his new red Model S (which Trump almost certainly did not pay “full price” for), Trump went to work making the government stupid and his own legacy even stupider. Why bother with “hate crimes” when you can push all the buttons on the national security dashboard at once? Here’s Jeff Mason and Abhirup Roy reporting for Reuters:
Violence against Tesla dealerships will be labeled domestic terrorism and perpetrators will “go through hell,” U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday in a show of support for the electric carmaker’s chief, his ally Elon Musk.
And there it is: extra protections for a single American business. I guess the hundreds of thousands of other American businesses can suck shit when their dealerships, office buildings, showrooms, retail outlets etc. are vandalized, torched, or otherwise damaged by people unhappy with their management, services, or products. Only attackers of this one company will be treated as domestic terrorists, even as the hundreds of literal domestic terrorists who raided the Capitol building for the sole purpose of preventing a democratic election from happening now roam free, thanks to Trump’s blanket pardon.
Trump’s transparent protectionism was, of course, praised by other administration officials.
White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said “ongoing and heinous acts of violence against Tesla by radical Leftist activists are nothing short of domestic terror.”
According to Reuters, Tesla share prices rose 4% on the news that the Trump administration would be treating Tesla better than any other carmaker. Of course, you’d generally expect better than a 4% jump when a company is granted “most favored nation” status, but no other company is currently run by one of the most hated people in the US, much less the US government. So, you get what you get.
Not that we should have to ask the facts to back up this assertion that Tesla is being targeted by “heinous acts of violence.” Anyone rational would know this simply isn’t true. While there have been a few instances of vandalism, most of the actions being taken against Tesla take the form of peaceful protests — peaceful protests that, by the way, result in an inordinate show of force by local law enforcement.
The party of “facts don’t care about your feelings” is still developing deep bruises from protected First Amendment activity. GOOD. Keep it up. If nothing else, we can ensure the war on stupid will be at least as bothersome as attempting to thrust and parry each daily attack from the Trump Administration’s War on Everything.
Filed Under: cybertruck, doge, domestic terrorism, donald trump, elon musk, hate crimes, terrorism
Companies: tesla
