Torching Teslas? Climate-loving liberals driven crazy by Trump harm their cause. | Opinion
Liberals across the country are attacking a bunch of electric vehicles and infrastructure – once a symbol of Democrats' climate-saving agenda. Essentially, they are sabotaging their own cause.
I don’t know who needs to hear this, but if you’ve been tempted lately to set a Tesla on fire, it may be you.
The left’s hatred of President Donald Trump and his government cost-cutting helper Tesla CEO Elon Musk seems to have driven some people completely nuts.
How are they expressing their outrage? They are torching and otherwise vandalizing Teslas, Tesla dealerships and Tesla charging stations.
That’s right. Liberals across the country are attacking a bunch of electric vehicles and infrastructure – once a symbol of Democrats’ climate-saving agenda. Essentially, they are sabotaging their own cause.
It would almost be funny if this kind of violence in response to disfavored people and policies weren’t becoming so common.
It’s a completely inappropriate – not to mention antithetical – response to Trump’s second term and Musk’s role in downsizing government bloat.
Liberals should love Tesla, but Musk supported Trump
Democrats for years have promoted electric vehicles as a main component of their pro-environment policies. And liberal voters have bought into saving the climate, regardless of the cost.
A 2023 Gallup poll found that 78% of Democrats and 20% of Republicans prioritize the environment over the economy, which was a record partisan gap.
In fact, the Biden administration doubled down on tax credits for EVs as well as government mandates that would have forced the production of many more EVs.
And no one has done more to normalize driving EVs than Musk. Five years ago, Tesla made up 80% of the U.S. market. That market share has fallen in recent years, but it’s still close to half. Chances are, if you see an EV on the road, it’s going to be a Tesla.
(Sorry, libs.)
Trump has promised – and already started – to unravel Biden’s electric car mantra.
In reality, if Musk cared only for his business, it seems he would have supported Biden. But he didn’t.
Musk actually believes in what Trump wants to do to rightsize the government and treat our national debt seriously.
How unhinged are Trump- and Musk-haters? This unhinged.
You’ve probably seen the headlines, but here’s a roundup of some of the left’s recent unsettling behavior:
- In January, a woman threw a Molotov cocktail at a Cybertruck at a dealership in Loveland, Colorado. She later returned to the dealership with more Molotov cocktails and spray-painted “nazi cars” on the building. (She got arrested.)
- In South Carolina, a man burned three Tesla chargers in a parking lot last week, setting his clothes on fire in the process, according to a news report. He also allegedly spray-painted a crude reference to Trump on the pavement near the charging stations.
- Four Tesla Cybertrucks in Seattle were torched Sunday.
- Multiple Tesla charging stations were set on fire near Boston this month. And at a nearby dealership, someone spray-painted three vehicles.
- In my home state of Oregon, at least seven shots were fired at a Tesla dealership in Tigard, damaging several cars.
- Not all the acting out is this violent, but it's still disruptive. The #TeslaTakedown effort encourages people to “sell your Teslas, dump your stock, join the picket lines” because Musk is “destroying our democracy.” At one related protest in New York City, more than 350 people swarmed a Tesla showroom. At least five were arrested for disorderly conduct.
This week, at a White House event to support Musk and Tesla, Trump said he will label Tesla-targeted violence as “domestic terrorism” and said these bad actors are “harming a great American company.”
Democrats freaked out that Trump, who bought a Tesla, was acting as a salesman for Musk, but the president is right to stand for a company that has provided good jobs – and good cars – to many Americans.
You don’t have to love Trump or Musk, but do try to keep your Molotov cocktails to yourself.
Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at Paste BN. Contact her at ijacques@usatoday.com or on X, formerly Twitter: @Ingrid_Jacques