WASHINGTON (TNS) — When Tesla cars first hit the streets, they sparked a revolution, taking electric vehicles from the laughable Toyota Prius to the sexy Model Y.
Now, the sleek electric vehicles, once a granola-crunching, Birkenstock-wearing icon of the future, are being attacked. The criminal wing of the anti-Trump movement is setting fires, getting out their guns, smashing windows and defacing the cars and dealerships with swastikas.
These critics of Elon Musk are misguidedly handing the moral high ground to the lightning rod evangelist of electric cars, Mars rocket-man and really, really personal computer visionary who bought Twitter along with his Department of Government Efficiency boss, Donald Trump, as they tear through Democratic norms and government bureaucracy with equal ferocity.
The hard truth is that these attacks won’t just fail to advance the anti-Trump cause — they taint the liberal brand and open the door to the worst instincts of Trump supporters.
First, let’s consider the optics. Tesla, for all its controversies, remains a symbol of the green revolution. Its electric vehicles have played a starring role in reducing carbon emissions, a cornerstone of progressive climate agendas. When activists torch a Tesla dealership or deface a Cybertruck, they’re not striking a blow against the fossil-fuel-funded Trump administration — they’re trashing a tool of sustainability.
The average onlooker doesn’t see a nuanced critique of Musk’s politics; they see the black stain of carbon emissions against the blue sky that Democrats say they are trying to protect. That hypocrisy will erode their credibility faster than Exxon-Mobil melts glaciers.
These attacks alienate the very people liberals need to win over, more moderate Trump voters — young, working-class, Black, white and Hispanic — who turned to the former president to fix what Biden got wrong.
Picture a suburban family shopping for their first EV. They’re not Trump fanatics; they just want a reliable car that’s kind to the planet. When they see news footage of shattered Tesla windshields or graffiti-smeared showrooms, they don’t cheer for the vandals — they recoil. Nothing has changed about Tesla cars, but as violent progressives change their brand loyalty, they look like they are after political purity, not environmental sanity.
Then there’s the economic fallout. Tesla employs 125,000 workers worldwide. The company’s growth has fueled jobs in renewable energy, battery technology and infrastructure — things liberals champion as the future of our economy. Tesla and its high-tech suppliers are the poster-children of the Biden-era industrial policy lavished with billions in government subsidies and loans, not to mention the electric-car mandate Trump hates so much.
And targeting Tesla doesn’t just damage property. It could disrupt livelihoods. Trump’s critics are treating the jobs of thousands of American workers with the same contempt Musk is treating the people of USAID. For a movement that claims to prioritize workers, targeting a company that’s driving innovation in a green economy is a baffling turnaround.
The legal consequences further compound the problem. Violent acts — whether smashing windows or firebombing lots — invite crackdowns. They’re already underway. The FBI is investigating. Trump’s attorney general, Pam Bondi, is calling these attacks “terrorism.” There will be more.
Arrests, fines, and jail time will follow as these incidents give conservative lawmakers ammunition to push the anti-riot laws they’ve wanted since the violent George Floyd protests rocked the nation. The irony is bitter: a Molotov cocktail thrown at a Tesla showroom could end up torching the rights of everyone who is protesting Trump, a president who would love nothing more than to call out the National Guard on his critics.
Moreover, this violence exemplifies the philosophical rot taking root of the American left. Liberalism, at its best, is about persuasion, reason, and coalition-building. Smashing Teslas isn’t an argument – it’s a tantrum. It signals that when words fail, force is the fallback. That’s less a winning strategy than a confession of defeat. Ask pro-lifers how their effort to target doctors for death worked in the 1980s and 1990s.
Progressives have long criticized the right for its flirtation with violence – think January 6th. To adopt the same tactics now is to blur the lines between ideologies until voters can’t tell the difference.
Love or hate Musk, his brand is provocation. Attacks on Tesla don’t weaken him — they embolden him. Each shattered windshield becomes a tweet or whatever it is you do on X. Each burned-out car is a right-wing rallying cry.
Musk’s narrative shifts from embattled billionaire to persecuted visionary, galvanizing his base and amplifying his influence. Liberals who despise his Twitter reign or his labor record might relish a symbolic middle finger, but they’re handing him a megaphone and the mantle of wronged victim instead.
Some Democrats are fueling the ire against Tesla. Tim Walz, last seen in a failed run for vice president, went on X to cheer a dive in Tesla’s stock price. That isn’t a good idea when people are ready to take the next step with guns, lighters and spray paint.
This is not the way. Flaming Teslas won’t bring Trump and Musk to their senses — they’ll be the spark Trump needs to turn America an even darker shade of red.
(Dave Mastio is a columnist for McClatchy Newspapers.)
