'Down nearly 40 percent': Musk’s far-right MAGA politics are sinking Tesla

Billionaire Elon Musk, head of Tesla, SpaceX and X.com and leader of the Department of Government Accountability (DOGE), has become a very polarizing figure on both the left and the right.

Liberals and progressives are vehemently critical of the mass layoffs of federal government workers he is pushing via DOGE, and Never Trump conservatives deeply resent his influence on the Republican Party. Musk, anti-Trump conservatives and libertarians argue, is doing the GOP a major disservice by threatening to fund primary challenges against Republican lawmakers who offer even tepid criticism of President Donald Trump's policies.

Opposition to Musk is leading to boycotts of Tesla in both the U.S. and Europe. And according to Business Insider's Ana Altchek, that opposition is hurting Tesla's profits.

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"Three months into the year," Altchek reports in a Business Insider article published on March 15, "things have gotten so rough for the automaker that President Donald Trump publicly came to the defense of CEO Elon Musk, railing against growing calls to boycott Tesla and committing to buy a brand-new car from him in a photo op in front of the White House. It's a stark change from November."

Altchek adds, "After actively campaigning for the president for months, Tesla's future initially looked promising under Trump 2.0. Musk was appointed to lead the White House's DOGE efforts, Tesla's stock price soared, and the billionaire said he would use his influence to push for a federal approval process for autonomous driving."

But in 2025, according to Altchek, Tesla shareholders "have had far less to celebrate."

"A series of anti-Musk protests and Tesla boycott efforts have erupted across the country," the Business Insider reporter notes. "Vandalism incidents have also taken place, including gunshots fired at a Tesla showroom and its vehicles and arrests made over damage from Molotov cocktails. Investigators believe a Tesla supercharger station that was engulfed in flames was an act of arson…. The automaker's shares have steadily declined over the last couple of months, plunging 48 percent since hitting an all-time high in December amid a wider market rally."

Altchek adds, "At market close on Friday, it was down nearly 40 percent from the start of the new year."

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Read the full Business Insider article at this link (subscription required).