Unplugged: The Backlash Against Trump–Musk

Unplugged: The Backlash Against Trump–Musk

Tesla’s stock plummeted more than 30 percent in the first quarter of 2025, losing its post-election gains, as the electric vehicle pioneer grapples with an unexpected challenge: a consumer revolt against CEO Elon Musk's leadership of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency and his political alliances.

Once celebrated across the political spectrum, Tesla has transformed from an environmental icon into a political flashpoint.

Tesla dealerships have become symbols, explains Lara Starr, who organized a 200-person demonstration in Marin County, California. "You can't disentangle Tesla from Musk, and you can't disentangle Musk from Trump. And the one thing I can say about Musk positively is he has handed us a place in almost every community around the country that is symbolic of everything wrong that is going on in Washington."

The impact of this grassroots rebellion is beginning to show in Tesla's financial reports. Global sales have hit historic lows for the company, with particularly sharp declines in traditionally strong markets.

Despite Tesla's business challenges, the billionaire poured considerable resources on reshaping America's political landscape. His political spending — including with his super PAC spending $25 million in a single Wisconsin Supreme Court race — has yielded disappointing returns. His preferred candidate was defeated.

In this week’s episode of The Intercept Briefing, reporters Matt Sledge and Sunjeev Bery examine this grassroots rebellion and what it reveals about Musk's power and the future of political activism.

"There's been a lot of talk about how the Democrats are in disarray and not sure how to recover from the election last year. But the Wisconsin election — and the way that Elon Musk got involved and personalized it and made it about him himself — gave Democrats an easy yes-no vote on Elon Musk, and I think that was really significant here," says Sledge.

He points out how that election is also a rebuke of the Trump–Musk alliance: " It is fascinating that it is happening through this electoral mechanism, and that people are being allowed to give a referendum on this relationship, and that the democratic process is potentially having a direct input on this relationship."

Intercept contributor Sunjeev Bery says the Tesla protests are much bigger than just Tesla or Musk. "The Tesla takedown movement has become this astonishing wave of opposition to Trump, the fascist directions of the Trump regime, everything Elon Musk is pushing with DOGE. It's a place where lots of people who are angry about all of the different things that the Trump regime is up to — all of the fires they're setting — can come together and focus on Elon Musk, Tesla, and the physical place of his dealerships."


Listen to the full conversation of The Intercept Briefing on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Bolivia and Brazil at the Crossroads

Bolivia and Brazil at the Crossroads

As right-wing forces attack indigenous Bolivians and allies of Morales, the Trump administration says the toppling of the democratically-elected government “preserves democracy.” Anthropologist and Bolivia scholar Bret Gustafson offers a nuanced analysis of how the coup unfolded, who benefits from the crisis, and what is at stake for the overwhelmingly indigenous population.Brazil’s former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is now free after spending a year and a half behind bars. He says he wants to run for president and fight the far right regime of Jair Bolsonaro. The Intercept’s Glenn Greenwald talks about his recent conversation with Lula, the threats against Intercept journalists in Brasil, and the latest on the corruption investigation into Justice Minister Sergio Moro. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

13 Marras 201946min

The Case of Rodney Reed

The Case of Rodney Reed

On this special episode of Intercepted, Jordan Smith and Liliana Segura discuss the case of Rodney Reed.The state of Texas has set an execution date of November 20 for Reed. He has been on death row since 1998, following his conviction in the murder of a young woman named Stacy Stites in April of 1996. There is an overwhelming amount of evidence in this case that Reed is innocent, and a very compelling case to be made that Stites’s fiancee at the time of her murder should be the focus of this case. Her fiancee was a police officer at the time of her killing. He is also now a convicted felon himself with a shocking track record of violent assault and rape. Rodney Reed’s life is now hanging in the balance, and an unlikely coalition of high profile people are trying to halt this execution, including Texas Republican politicians and elected officials. Perhaps most prominent among them is Sen. Ted Cruz. Jordan Smith and Liliana Segura are both journalists at The Intercept and the cohosts of Murderville. Check out all of their work on this case at The Intercept.If you like what we do, support our show by going to TheIntercept.com/join. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

13 Marras 201925min

The Case for Economic Disobedience

The Case for Economic Disobedience

Organizer Astra Taylor, author of “Democracy May Not Exist, but We’ll Miss It When It’s Gone,” analyzes “minoritarian” rule in the U.S., how capitalism undermines democracy, and lays out concrete ideas for fighting back. Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, author of “Race for Profit,” talks about the history of how the U.S. government and predatory lenders conspired against Black home ownership in the United States. She also explains why privatizing affordable housing initiatives is a recipe for continued disaster. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

6 Marras 201950min

American Horrors

American Horrors

Amidst the grandstanding and partisan bickering, no one wants to talk about the decades of U.S. policy that helped give rise to ISIS and al Qaeda. Jeremy Scahill discusses how U.S. policy opened a Pandora’s box in Iraq and Syria.Islamic studies scholar Amanda Rogers discusses the actual founder of ISIS, Abu Musab al Zarqawi, and how ISIS adopted tactics from the U.S. “war on terror.”War reporter Mike Giglio talks about his time on the ground covering ISIS. He documents this experience in his new book,  “Shatter the Nations: ISIS and the War for the Caliphate.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

30 Loka 201955min

Omnicidal Tendencies

Omnicidal Tendencies

Legendary peace activist Liz McAlister has spent her entire life resisting U.S. war. The 79-year-old grandmother of six, who is on trial with her Kings Bay Plowshares co-defendants, explains why she and her friends snuck onto a U.S. nuclear base to deliver an indictment of the U.S. government.Rudy Giuliani has emerged as Donald Trump’s dollar store Roy Cohn and he has put himself right in the center of the impeachment inquiry. Journalist Johnny Dwyer, author of “The Districts,” chronicles Giuliani’s time as a prosecutor in the Southern District of New York, Giuliani’s connections to shady characters from a host of countries and why he may never face indictment.Journalist Emily Guendelsberger went undercover working at Amazon, McDonald’s and Convergys. She discusses her experience in the dystopic world of low wage work and her new book “On the Clock, What Low-Wage Work Did to Me and How It Drives America Insane.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

23 Loka 20191h 10min

Wasteland of Corruption

Wasteland of Corruption

Adam Serwer of The Atlantic discusses the impeachment inquiry, the cruelty of the Trump presidency and the state of play in Washington D.C.As Turkey continues its brutal incursion into parts of Syria, U.S. politicians accuse Trump of “betraying” the Kurds. Jeremy Scahill and Dr. Kamran Matin of Sussex University discuss the long history of U.S. support for despotic regimes as they’ve waged genocidal campaigns against Kurdish people.Author Fatima Bhutto has two new books out, a novel “The Runaways” and “New Kings of the World: Dispatches from Bollywood, Dizi, and K-Pop.” Bhutto discusses these books, the role of the CIA in Hollywood and the evolving story of Pakistan in the post-9/11 world. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

16 Loka 20191h 23min

The Trump Effect

The Trump Effect

Jeremy Scahill is back. Well, sort of. He passes the reins over to Intercepted's producers. A recent report from Airwars investigates the incredibly thin media coverage of civilian harm during the U.S. war against ISIS. The author of that report, investigative researcher Alexa O'Brien, shares her findings with associate producer Elise Swain. Lead producer Jack D'Isidoro interviews Wilfred Chan, who dives deep into the pro-democracy uprising in Hong Kong and explores the protesters' demands. The Intercept's Jordan Smith discusses the first abortion case before the Supreme Court since Trump’s new appointments with producer Laura Flynn. They analyze the latest in the war against women's reproductive rights. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

9 Loka 20191h 3min

We've Got Impeachment

We've Got Impeachment

D.C. Bureau Chief Ryan Grim hosts and gives the long history of Hunter Biden in Ukraine. Senior National Security Correspondent James Risen explains Donald Trump’s abuse of power, comments on the New York Times publishing information about the whistleblower, he calls for an end to leak prosecutions, especially under the Espionage Act. Grim and Risen are joined by Edward Baumgartner, a researcher on Ukraine and Russia, and Kristofer Harrison, a former Defense and State Department adviser during the George W. Bush administration. They discuss Joe and Hunter Biden’s involvement in Ukraine, and the interests of various Trump associates in Ukraine including Rudy Giuliani, Michael Cohen, and Paul Manafort. Reporter Murtaza Hussain asks why the moral outrage over Trump’s abuse of political power is so much greater than it is for America’s endless wars and rising civilian deaths. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2 Loka 201944min

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