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Salon
Salon
Politics
Griffin Eckstein

Musk: Trump will target Tesla critics

Tesla CEO and Trump advisor Elon Musk gave Fox News’s Bret Baier a rare look inside his Department of Government Efficiency on Thursday. While the conversation centered around supposed cost-cutting, talk of enemies of MAGA and Musk was never far off.

The X owner doubled down on promises from Attorney General Pam Bondi and President Donald Trump that those caught vandalizing Tesla dealerships would face harsh legal penalties. However, Musk took it a step further, promising punishment for Tesla’s critics.

“People are committing violence. They are firebombing Tesla dealerships. They are shooting guns into stores. They’re threatening people,” Musk said. “Why? What’s happening, it seems to me, is they’re being fed propaganda by the far left, and they believe it.”

“The ones pushing the lies and propaganda, we’re going after them,” Musk continued. “I think there’s some real evil out there. We have to overcome it.”

Musk wasn’t clear about what types of anti-Tesla speech could be subject to prosecution. When it comes to anti-Musk speech, the unelected meddler certainly has his pick. Asked by Baier how he feels when he’s “called a Nazi, a white supremacist, a fascist,” Musk said he and Trump both faced comparisons to far-right authoritarian leaders like Hitler and Mussolini – and said those responsible needed to be stopped. 

“They’re pushing these lies. And why do they push these lies? And I think need to hold people responsible for pushing these lies,” Musk said. “Because those lies almost got the president killed.”

Watch the full interview here:

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