THE PEOPLE VS THE TECHNO RELIGIOUS CAPITALIST MILITARY INDUSTRIAL FASCIST COMPLEX: – If Tesla falls, Elon Musk falls, then Trump, the Republicans, and finally the Russians. Or at least that’s the theory. There is no doubt that Tesla is in enormous trouble, and that Musk is struggling to cope with this reality. From publicly falling out with Peter Navarro, to gettting on the wrong side of Trump because of the China War plans. He also failed in Wisconsin, on top of blowing up the umpteenth rocket in his quest for relevance. New reports confirm that he had a major blow out with Scott Bessent in the White House, and we also know that he clashed with Marco Rubio and Susie Wiles.
For their despicable plan to work, all the different parts of the MAGAVERSE need to be in sync. The Fundamentalist Protestant Evangelicals and the Militant Catholic Project 2025 faction. The Pro-Zionist Neocon lobby and the Neo-Nazi white nationalists. The AI Techbro billionaires and the Libertarian Crypto Anarco-capitalists. All of them have to work together to birth the America First they so crave. The connections are flimsy and fragile, therefore the unholy alliance will struggle to deal with resistance and pushback. A plan is always great in theory, putting it into practice requires a lot of competence, focus, and perseverance.
Now is the time to exert maximum pressure in order to further destabilize their grand vision of a dystopian United States of America.
BOYS WILL BE BOYS: – Two billionaire advisors to President Donald Trump engaged in a heated shouting match in the White House that triggered alarm in the building. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Elon Musk reportedly began shouting at each other during an argument according to a report from Axios reporter Marc Caputo, citing a source that said ‘the F bombs started to fly.’
‘It was two billionaire, middle-aged men thinking it was WWE in the hall of the West Wing,’ a witness said. The fight did not come to physical blows, but the news illustrated a growing power clash with Musk and members of Trump’s cabinet.
‘It was quite a scene. It was loud. And I mean, loud,’ another witness said.
One aide felt it necessary to step between the two men to prevent the scene from escalating, the report noted. News of the argument was first reported in the New York Times, as both officials disputed who was the best candidate to lead the IRS.
Acting IRS commissioner Gary Shapley took the position after he was recommended by Musk but Bessent was not informed about the change. Days later, Trump replaced Shapley with Bessent’s choice Michael Faulkender. – By CHARLIE SPIERING for DM.
BRAND HOMICIDE: – Elon Musk says he’s going back to Tesla. The question now is whether or not it’s too late to reverse the damage that’s been done.
Musk told investors on Tuesday night he would step back from his role running the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) next month, spending only one or two days a week there. He said he would spend the freed up time running Tesla.
But even if Musk devotes more time to the now troubled company, it’s clear that his high profile support of President Donald Trump and controversial role at DOGE has already cost Tesla. There have been protests outside showrooms and vandalism at its facilities. Earlier this month, the automaker reported the biggest drop in sales in its history during the first quarter as buyers fled the brand. And that damage could be long lasting, even according to some of his fans.
Shares of Tesla (TSLA) were up more than 3% in early trading Wednesday, even after the electric automaker reported a 71% plunge in net income due to tumbling sales around the globe.
But even Wedbush Securities’ Dan Ives, long known as one of Tesla’s most prominent optimists on Wall Street, said that sales demand will be down 10% permanently due to Musk’s political profile.
“The brand damage caused by Musk in the White House/DOGE over the past few months will not go away just by this move and some of the damage will be stained forever in Europe and the US,” he said in a note to clients early Wednesday.
DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR: Musk on Tuesday dismissed the idea that there had been any brand damage due to his controversial political activities, blaming the protests – without any proof – on paid protestors. He suggested the company’s record drop in sales was due to macro economic issues and uncertainty on the part of car buyers. But other automakers reported a rise in sales in the quarter, especially with their own electric vehicles.
More evidence of this came Thursday. Tesla’s sales in the European Union plunged 36% last month compared with a year ago, whereas overall sales of battery electric vehicles in the region rose more than 17%, according to industry data. The decline in Tesla’s EU sales over the entire first quarter was even steeper.
Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja has acknowledged the pushback against the brand.
“There has been a lot of speculation as to the reasons for decline of our vehicle deliveries in first quarter,” he said. “The negative impact of vandalism and unwarranted hostility towards our brand and our people had an impact in certain markets.”
100% IRREVERSIBLE: – And Ives told CNN that the drop in Tesla sales is what prompted Musk to announce he was pulling back from DOGE.
“There’s no way to deny what just happened this quarter, whether he admits it or not,” he said.
Brand damage is ’100% irreversible’. The damage to the Tesla brand by Musk may be far greater than Ives and other bulls admit.
“This idea that he’s focused on Tesla, so it’s sales are going to pick up are complete garbage,” said Gordon Johnson of GLJ Research, one of Tesla’s harshest critics on Wall Street.
Johnson said Musk has done permanent damage among liberal buyers who were the natural market for Tesla’s electric vehicles due to their concerns about the environment. He added that there was a drop in demand even before Trump’s election and Musk’s public support for him.
Tesla sales started to decline in early 2024 after Musk moved to allow Nazi sympathizers back onto his social media platform, X, and posted about some of his own far-right positions. That activity isn’t likely to end, even if Musk never visits the Oval Office again, according to Johnson.
“The damage that he’s done is 100% irreversible,” he said.
CLIMATE DENIAL: Some supporters of Trump may be more inclined to buy Tesla than there were in the past, but that’s not enough to make up for the loss of sales to liberal buyers, said Kelly O’Keefe, founder of branding consultant Brand Federation. He calls what Musk has done to the Tesla brand in recent years “brand homicide.”
“You’ve got the decline of fortunes at Tesla even before the DOGE era,” O’Keefe said. “It was a brand that was built around the imminent threat of climate change, a symbol of concern for the environment.”
Now, he says, the brand is in a tail spin.
“It was a brand people were proud to own,” he added. “I don’t know how you take the stain off of Musk’s behavior.” By Chris Isidore, CNN
HEAVY RARE EARTH OPTIMUS: – Elon Musk, the chief executive of Tesla, said on Tuesday that China’s halt on exports of certain magnets was affecting his plans to build humanoid robots, in the clearest signal yet that China’s action is beginning to affect big American businesses.
China this month suspended exports to any country of so-called heavy rare earth metals and magnets made from them, as part of its retaliation for President Trump’s increases in tariffs on U.S. imports of Chinese goods. The Chinese government has stopped allowing shipments until it can devise an export license system.
China produces the entire world’s supply of heavy rare earth metals, from ore mined in China and Myanmar, and 90 percent of magnets made with these metals. Japan produces the rest of the magnets, but uses raw materials from China.
Rare earth magnets are used inside electric motors that need to fit in compact spaces. Robots have many small electric motors, typically one or more for each joint, that each require a magnet. The use of the heavy rare earths in most of these magnets keeps them from overheating and malfunctioning when motors are confined in small spaces. – By Keith Bradsher for New York Times Reporting from Shanghai.
Apr 24, 2025 8:42:00 am
