Anti-Tesla protests are at best counterproductive. When they involve vandalism, incendiary bombs, and arson, they must be vigorously denounced by Democrats and Republicans alike, and their perpetrators must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. More effort should be made to understand what cuts in spending programs and bureaucracy Musk is trying to make, whether they should be made, why it’s been so difficult for President Trump’s predecessors to make more progress in combating government bloat, and how the anti-Tesla and anti-Musk antics may ultimately benefit Trump and Musk after all.
The “Take-Down Tesla” demonstrations of last weekend, when conducted peacefully and legally, are well within the bounds of constitutionally protected free speech. Even the supporters of Musk and Trump, while retaining the right to denounce such activities, must support the right to protest anyway, lest someday others may try to suppress their rights to peaceful protest as well.
Calling for boycotts of Teslas and encouraging Tesla owners to get rid of their cars and Tesla stockholders to dump their stock are likewise perfectly legitimate means of protest (although, given the presence of a Tesla factory in Minnesota as well as Tesla stock in a Minnesota government pension plan, Governor Tim Walz perhaps should not be as gleeful as he’s currently acting over the decline of Tesla stock, but that’s his problem).
We’ve all seen this happen to corporations seeking to make or market products while showing their “wokeness:”
• Anheuser-Busch loses money and market share after trying to use a trans-woman/female impersonator to market Bud Light to a predominantly male clientele;
• Target loses money and market share trying to market “transgender-friendly” clothing, such as bikinis with bottoms that have pouches for male anatomy; and
• Disney creates one of the biggest critical and financial flops in the entertainment industry on its hands by releasing a retelling of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs with a re-imagined feminist plot, and starring an actress who, despite her undeniable talents as an actress and singer, has chosen to use her social media platforms to advocate for a “free Palestine,” the perpetual emotional suffering of Trump’s supporters, and an attempt by Trump himself to perform an anatomically impossible sex act.
In each instance, these companies were well within their rights to advance whatever political agendas they wanted, while potential consumers were likewise within their rights to boycott them and thereby hurt their bottom lines. And so it is with Musk and Tesla: Go woke, go broke; Go Trump, get dumped.
But it should be obvious that the acts of vandalism and arson go far beyond the bounds of legitimate political discourse. Opposition to Musk and Trump in no way justifies the dangers to property and people. Democrats should denounce the violence as vigorously as they denounced the January 6 riots. Republicans should denounce the violence as vigorously as they should have denounced the January 6 riots.
And while it’s all well and good to say Musk should be using a scalpel rather than a chainsaw, it should be understood that given the structure of federal spending, previous presidents who’ve tried to use scalpels—including Presidents Reagan, Clinton, and Obama—have failed to make appreciable and memorable dents in federal spending or bureaucracy: Every dollar spent by the federal government is spent BY someone and GOES TO someone who lives in a state or congressional district represented by a senator or representative. None of these someones who spends or gets spent on wants to give up either the power to spend or the benefits of receiving money. Nor do senators or representatives want to see a decrease in the amounts of money that go into their states or districts. So bureaucrats who spend money, interest groups who get money, and members of Congress in whose states and districts the money is spent will unite to keep the money coming and the bureaucrats in their offices. These three-way alliances, called “iron triangles” in American and Texas government texts, almost invariably defeat any cost cutters who try to take scalpels to them.
So knowing the past ineffectiveness of scalpels, Trump and Musk are trying the chainsaw approach instead. To date, the results are mixed and not necessarily permanent. One can read of thousands of bureaucrats and programs spending billions of dollars getting axed. Which of these actions will be reversed by the courts—especially by the Supreme Court—remains to be seen. The most useful acts the Congress could take to constructively contribute to this process would be to review the actions taken by Trump, Musk, and DOGE, examine whether these personnel and programs are truly needed, and legislate to either restore, or permanently eliminate, or at least modify personnel and programs targeted by DOGE. This assumes, of course, that our lawmakers find enough backbone and intestinal fortitude to overcome their inherent reluctance to cut much of anything.
In the meantime, one should hope that the vandals and arsonists waging war against Tesla are caught and, if their guilt is determined through due process of law, imprisoned or otherwise punished severely enough to neutralize them and discourage future wrongdoing. Otherwise, for better or worse, they will continue to constitute an ever-growing threat to public safety and order—while provoking a backlash by which the popularity of Trump, Musk, DOGE, and their actions may well grow.
Malcolm L. Cross has lived in Stephenville since 1987 and taught politics and government at Tarleton for 36 years, retiring in 2023. His political and civic activities include service on the Stephenville City Council (2000-2014) and on the Erath County Republican Executive Committee (1990-2024). He was Mayor pro-tem of Stephenville from 2008 to 2014. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Stephenville
Economic Development Authority since 2018 and as chair of the Erath County Appraisal District’s Appraisal Review Board since 2015. He is also a member of the Stephenville Rotary Club, the Board of Vestry of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, and the Executive Committee of the Boy Scouts’ Pecan Valley District. Views expressed in this column are his and do not reflect those of The Flash as a whole.
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