Hundreds of demonstrators lined both sides of the street outside the Tesla dealership in Mount Kisco on “Tesla Takedown” day, one of more than 200 rallies held across the United States, Canada and Europe on Sunday, March 29, 2025. Holding placards with sayings like “Freedom Not Fascism,” “Divest from Tesla” and “Deport Musk,” they’re protesting Elon Musk’s deep cuts in federal funding by trying to hit the billionaire where they think it will hurt most, in his bottom line.
Musk has become the face of Trump’s efforts to gut federal spending, including large cuts in social programs and science research. The Tesla Takedown movement accuses Musk of using the billions he made from Tesla to try and destroy democracy in the US, while supporting far right politics abroad.
The protestors call to action – stop buying Tesla cars and sell or dump Tesla stock – has contributed to a 40% decline in the stock price since the movement started.
In Mount Kisco, rallies have been held outside the Tesla dealership since mid-February. Fred Silverman, who organizes the rallies, says they’ve gotten bigger every week. More than 400 people came to the rally on Sunday, the largest group yet. “The idea is to get billionaires out of our elections and our government. We represent the real majority in this country.”
Counterprotest Smaller but with Large DOGE Flags
While most of the crowd came to protest the Musk/Trump cuts, about 25 people gathered in front of the Tesla dealership to show their support for Musk. “Elon is doing a wonderful job for this country,” said one woman who declined to give her name. “We will be able to balance the budget and repay 3 trillion dollars in debt.”
The Tesla Takedown movement has successfully hurt sales of new Teslas, tanked the price of used Teslas, and tarnished the company’s image and net worth. Meanwhile, Elon Musk has announced he will finish his cost cutting by late May, when he plans to step down from his position in the Trump administration. In spite of the demonstrations against Tesla and Musk personally, he remains the richest man in the world.
More Protests Ahead
In addition to another Sunday Tesla protest on April 6, the HandsOff! movement plans protests in every US State on April 5th. Learn more here: https://handsoff2025.com/about
