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During an earnings call with investors on Tuesday, billionaire Trump financier Elon Musk regurgitated a conspiracy theory about citizens who have been protesting him at Tesla dealerships.
“The protests that you’ll see out there, they’re very organized, they’re paid for,” Musk said. He went on to allege that the reason thousands have protested “is because they’re receiving fraudulent money” and are “recipients of wasteful largesse.”
The call was part of Musk’s efforts to reassure investors after Tesla announced extremely disappointing earnings. Tesla reported that it has earned $409 million in net income for the first quarter of 2025, down 71% from the same quarter last year.
The decline occurred as Musk took on a central role in President Donald Trump’s administration, pivoting from his role as a major donor to leading the so-called Department of Government Efficiency. DOGE, which has no congressional authority, has interfered in multiple federal departments, creating chaos and firing thousands of long-serving civil employees and generating a backlash in the courts and public opinion.
Musk also said on the call that he would be scaling back his efforts at DOGE and focusing more on Tesla.
Musk has tried for months to claim that the grassroots protests that have emerged since he tied himself to Trump are fake and the creation of shadowy benefactors.
But Musk, who has fathered multiple children while reportedly believing in a coming apocalypse, still seems unwilling to accept that the protests are about legitimate opposition to his behavior.
Recent polling from multiple news organizations show a majority of voters disapproving of DOGE. Similarly, in an average of public polling, more than 50% of respondents said they had a negative feeling toward Musk. The New York Times noted, “Over the last four years, he has gone from having a mostly positive approval rating among the voters who had heard of him to a deeply negative one.”
Related | Elon Musk’s fat new government contract will make your blood boil
While Musk’s activities with DOGE have come under fire, he continues to receive billions in taxpayer-financed contracts for his company, SpaceX. That sort of arrangement is unlikely to help his standing with the public.
Musk holds his new position of power because Trump repaid Musk for donating millions to elect him in 2024. Trump has then used his presidential power to insulate Musk from accountability and ethics concerns—and the result has been public disdain, which has likely contributed to Tesla’s terrible sales.
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