Elon Musk’s lead role in destroying government sparks protests
Angry Americans gather outside Tesla dealerships and across the country
Where can you most satisfyingly direct your anger about the Trump-Musk coup?
Increasingly, the answer seems to be: at Elon Musk.
Musk’s singular, secretive and ruthless crusade to destroy broad swaths of the government and get access to confidential data – along with his status as an unelected foreign-born multibillionaire – have turned him into “a particularly heinous villain,” as Ezra Levin, a co-founder of the activist organization Indivisible, told the Guardian recently.
Fury at Musk led to a slew of grassroots social-media-spawned protests outside Tesla dealerships and charging stations all across the country on Saturday. (Tesla stock makes up a large chunk of Musk’s wealth, and its price is down about 30 percent from its all-time high in December.)
Protesters descended on Tesla dealerships and charging stations in Portland, Seattle, Austin, Cleveland, Atlanta, Madison, Washington, D.C., Kansas City, Ann Arbor, and Burlington, Vermont, to name just a few.
In California alone, Tesla protesters came out in Berkeley, Camarillo, Encinitas, Los Angeles, Palo Alto, San Luis Obispo, San Jose, and Sunnyvale.
Many of the protests came together on Bluesky. More events are planned; many are being posted to Action Network, or you can search for the hashtags #TeslaTakeover and #TeslaTakedown on social media.
Even more protesters turned out across the country on Monday, President’s Day – or “No Kings Day” as many signs proclaimed. Those events were organized by a group calling itself 50501 – which stands for “50 protests, 50 states, 1 movement.” The group started on Reddit among people who were tired of waiting for direction on how to voice their discontent. Musk was at least as much a target of the crowds’ fury as Trump.
Thousands attended rallies in Washington, D.C., and New York City. Here are links to news coverage of the protests in Greenville, S.C., Ft. Myers, Fla., Phoenix, Springfield, Ill., Miami, Augusta, Maine, Buffalo, Memphis, Harrisburg, Pa., Annapolis, and Cincinnati.
Protesters came out in 16 Florida cities including Orlando and West Palm Beach.
Other protests took place in such hotbeds of political activism as Twin Falls, Idaho, Boardman, Ohio, and Staunton, Va.
The Atlantic has a wonderful photo essay of the protests.
“I think people are shocked by how quickly things have gone,” said Iva King, a protester in Athens, Ga. “And as you can see based on a lot of these signs, people are especially unhappy with Elon Musk, who was not elected President.”
“Everything is a little off the rails,” said Lisa Pereira, a Chicago protester. “So I decided I had to show up. I had to be in cahoots with my soul.”
There are more protests scheduled in the coming days and weeks, including several taking place today. Indeed, the Associated Press says the anti-Musk protests are just gearing up.
With House members back in their districts through Feb. 23, Indivisible is urging its 1,300 local chapters to “Tell Your Representatives It's Musk or Us.” They even offer a toolkit for what to do.
And MoveOn is organizing nationwide events at congressional offices under the banner “You work for us, not Musk.”
“We are seeing a true resurgence in energy opposing what Trump, Musk and Republicans are doing to our country,” MoveOn executive director Rahna Epting told the AP, adding that “people are mad as hell.”
And, for good measure, singer Sheryl Crow dumped her Tesla in reaction to “President Musk” and donated the proceeds to NPR.
New Heroes of the Resistance
In the most high-profile public resistance to Trump so far, several top Justice Department officials quit last week rather than drop the corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Trump-installed acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove had ordered the charges dropped as part of a quid pro quo to win Adams’ cooperation on immigration enforcement.
The acting U.S. Attorney for Manhattan, Danielle R. Sassoon was the first to quit, sending out a smoking resignation letter. "The reasons advanced by Mr. Bove for dismissing the indictment are not ones I can in good faith defend as in the public interest and as consistent with the principles of impartiality and fairness that guide my decision-making," she wrote.
Then when Bove told the department’s public integrity section in Washington to file the motion to dismiss the case, the two men in charge of that unit -- John Keller and Kevin Driscoll -- also resigned. So did three other attorneys.
The lead prosecutor in the Manhattan office, Hagan Scotten, also quit, writing in his pugnacious resignation letter that only a fool or a coward would drop the charges.
“They showed that lawyers can & must put their… obligations & professional responsibilities ahead of political loyalty,” civil rights leader Sherilyn Ifill wrote in a Bluesky thread.
And they weren’t the only ones to quit on principle. In the last few days, even more heroes have emerged:
Jim Jones, the head of the food division at the FDA, quit in protest over sweeping staff cuts on Monday. In his resignation letter, the Guardian reported, he said the cuts would make it “fruitless” to continue in his role given the Trump administration’s “disdain for the very people” needed to implement food safety reforms.
Michelle King, the top official at the Social Security Administration, stepped down this weekend after members of Elon Musk’s team sought access to sensitive personal data held by the agency, reported the New York Times.
Denise Cheung, the top criminal prosecutor in the Washington, D.C. U.S. Attorney’s Office, resigned Tuesday after declining a request from her Trump-appointed superiors to open a grand jury investigation into an Environmental Protection Agency funding decision during the Biden administration, CNN reported.
Steven Reilly, the engineering lead for notify.gov, resigned Tuesday from the General Services Administration rather than give a Musk lieutenant read and write access to the system, which contains personally identifying information of members of the public, the Washington Post reported.
It's also heroic to stand up for your principles in a time of rampant cowardice.
Perry Bacon wrote in his Washington Post opinion column about Michael S. Roth, the president of Wesleyan University in Connecticut, who has been outspoken in defense of diversity, equity and inclusion, transgender rights and immigration. “Roth is demonstrating the kind of eloquence and resistance we desperately need from the leaders of not only colleges but also corporations, nonprofits and other organizations in the face of Trump’s onslaught against the rule of law, civil society and key American institutions,” Bacon wrote.
Inside Higher Education reported on how Education for All, a grassroots coalition of mostly community college administrators, is publicly organizing to stand up to attacks on DEI.
After Rob Plonski, a deputy division director at the National Nuclear Security Administration took to LinkedIn to speak out against an employee purge there, the Trump administration reversed itself – or at least tried to.
William R. Bay, president of the American Bar Association wrote a public letter decrying “wide-scale affronts to the rule of law itself.”
And over 750 political scientists signed a public letter arguing that the Trump administration “has disregarded existing laws and regulations” in a way that “threatens to undermine the division of powers and checks and balances, hallmarks of America’s constitutional order.”
Lawsuits and More Lawsuits
Just Security is keeping track of all the legal challenges to Trump administration actions. There are 77 at their latest count. Let me mention a few:
U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes appears likely to block Trump’s order banning transgender troops from the military after some blistering exchanges on Tuesday with Justice Department attorney Jason Lynch. “You and I both agree that the greatest fighting force that world history has ever seen is not going to be impacted in any way by less than one percent of the soldiers using a different pronoun than others might want to call them. Would you agree with that?” Reyes asked. “No, Your Honor, I'm not. I can't agree with that,” Lynch responded. Reyes continued: “If you want to get me an officer of the U.S. military who is willing to get on the stand and say that because of pronoun usage, the U.S. military is less prepared… I will be the first to buy you a box of cigars.”
A federal judge in Washington State blocked Trump’s order limiting transgender health care, writing that it violates separation of powers, equal protection, and the Tenth Amendment.
The American Civil Liberties Union and other groups filed a lawsuit last week on behalf of plaintiffs including the sister of one of the migrants being detained at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, seeking to meet with the people being detained there in order to provide them with legal assistance, which they have so far been denied. (Also see a Washington Post story that casts doubt on those migrants being the “worst of the worst”.)
Democracy Forward filed a complaint with the Office of Special Counsel on behalf of civil servants across nine federal agencies who were terminated “with no regard for the performance or conduct” but instead because of their probationary status.
How Can You Help Civil Servants?
You can try little things.
Photographer Ginny Thomas offered D.C.-area federal employees a professional headshot for free.
Career counselor Karen Chopra is offering free job search webinars for anyone who is searching right now or fears that they will be looking for a job soon.
Friendship Animal Hospital in D.C. is offering to waive fees for federal government employees and contractors who have lost their jobs and whose pets need emergency care.
Have you seen other people helping civil servants who’ve lost their jobs? Let me know at froomkin@gmail.com
Also email me if you know of any group that might be interested in creating some sort of “emergency fund for public integrity” to help people who have resigned or been fired for unjust reasons.
Things To Share With Your Friends
Jamelle Bouie writes in his New York Times opinion column: “The question is whether the silent majority in favor of a more inclusive society will stand up and say so.”
Author Anne Applebaum writes in the Atlantic: “There is still time to block this regime change, to preserve the old values. But first we need to be clear about what is happening, and why.”
Washington Post reporters Hannah Natanson, Lisa Rein and Emily Davies write sensitively about all the federal workers who were fired over the weekend.
Get a pack of 20 free “Know Your Rights” cards from the ACLU.
This could come in handy over recess: A website showing federal workers by place of residence, which allows you to drill down by congressional district.
Here’s the ad about Musk that the Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post wouldn’t run.
Want a copy of the Musk “I Am Stealing From You” poster? You can buy one here.
