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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BONUS: All The News Unfit to Print

BONUS: All The News Unfit to Print

James Risen is a legend in the world of investigative and national security journalism. As a reporter for the New York Times, Risen broke some of the most important stories of the post 9/11 era, from the warrantless surveillance against Americans conducted under the Bush-Cheney administration, to black prison sites run by the CIA, to failed covert actions in Iran. Risen has won the Pulitzer and other major journalism awards. But perhaps what he is now most famous for is fighting a battle under both the Bush and Obama administrations as they demanded — under threat of imprisonment —the name of one of Risen’s alleged confidential sources. But it isn’t just the government that Risen had to fight. He also battled his own editors and other powerful figures at the New York Times. Risen is now a senior national security correspondent at The Intercept where his incredible inside story has now been published. We talk with Risen about his career at the New York Times in a special edition of Intercepted. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

3 Jan 20181h 3min

Full Metal Jackass

Full Metal Jackass

Former Nixon White House counsel John Dean talks about the Mueller investigation, how the CIA may benefit from Trump’s presidency and how Trump stacks up to Nixon and Reagan. Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg talks about the classified secrets he has kept for decades. He has just published his story in a new book, The Doomsday Machine. Field of Vision takes us inside the very strange world of Steve Bannon’s films. Patterson Hood of the band Drive-By Truckers performs. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

13 Dec 20171h 34min

Who's Afraid of the Alt-Deep State?

Who's Afraid of the Alt-Deep State?

Matthew Cole joins Jeremy for a discussion about their explosive report in The Intercept that Blackwater founder Erik Prince has been pitching a private spy operation to the White House and CIA. Activist and comedian Randy Credico, who has been hit with a subpoena from the House Intelligence Committee investigating Trump and Russia, joins us.  Journalist Barrett Brown talks about the FBI’s campaign against him and offers a critique of Wikileaks. Singer Amanda Palmer talks about her provocative new video for a cover she did of Pink Floyd’s “Mother." Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

6 Dec 20171h 44min

Very Bad Men

Very Bad Men

This week on Intercepted: Sen. Chris Murphy blasts the US government for its role in the destruction of Yemen. Jeremy tears apart Thomas Friedman’s gross love letter to the Saudi Crown Prince and talks about the bi-partisan war against journalism from Bill Clinton to Donald Trump. The Intercept’s Betsy Reed and Buzzfeed’s Katie Baker analyze this unprecedented public fight against sexual assaulters. Analysis from Harare, Zimbabwe on the ouster of Robert Mugabe. Comedian Joe Para performs a dramatic reenactment of a secret Snowden document. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

29 Nov 20171h 32min

The Distraction in Chief

The Distraction in Chief

This week on Intercepted: Rami Khouri breaks down the Saudi agenda in the Middle East, its destruction of Yemen and the bizarre case of the exiled Lebanese prime minister. Aram Roston of Buzzfeed, Spencer Ackerman of the Daily Beast, and The Intercept’s Matthew Cole join Jeremy for a discussion on the mysterious death of a Green Beret in Mali and why the CIA and US military are quite content with the Trump presidency. Wikileaks slid into Donald Trump Jr.’s DMs. Intercept co-founder Glenn Greenwald analyzes what the messages say and how the media covered the story. And we talk to two newly elected Democrats in Virginia: Lee Carter and Elizabeth Guzman. Donald Trump stars in American Beauty. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

15 Nov 20171h 35min

Say Hello to My Little Hands

Say Hello to My Little Hands

This week on Intercepted: Rep. Ro Khanna calls for a complete end to all U.S. military assistance to Saudi Arabia and the  catastrophe in Yemen. The former chief prosecutor at Guantanamo, Col. Morris Davis, blasts Trump over his interference in the case of Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl and the recent terror attack in New York. And as the Paradise Papers rock the world of the rich who use offshore banks and law firms, we get analysis from Nomi Prins. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

8 Nov 20171h 31min

Criminal Indictments at Home, Secret Wars Abroad

Criminal Indictments at Home, Secret Wars Abroad

This week on Intercepted: New York Times reporter Charlie Savage and former federal prosecutor Ken White of Popehat break down the recent indictment and plea deal and what it may mean for Trump. Investigative journalist Nick Turse and Kenya scholar Samar Al-Bulushi take us into the world of US militarism in Africa: secret drone bases, US commandos and Washington-backed African forces operating under the guise of the “war on terror.” Musician Roberto Lange of Helado Negro performs. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

1 Nov 20171h 15min

Mike Pence is The Koch Brothers' Manchurian Candidate

Mike Pence is The Koch Brothers' Manchurian Candidate

This week on Intercepted: Investigative journalist Jane Mayer exposes the Koch Brother puppet masters behind Vice President Mike Pence’s rise to power and the ruthless pursuit of corporate profits that put Pence a heartbeat from the presidency.We speak to Chinese dissident and renown artist Ai Weiwei about the humanitarian catastrophe of the 65 million globally displaced migrants and his new documentary, Human Flow. And we end with Deerhoof's Greg Saunier on the songs of “Mountain Moves.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

25 Okt 20171h 14min

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