Stocks for the electric vehicle company Tesla just wrapped its worst month since 2022, and it’s all because of its certifiably insane CEO, Elon Musk.
In February, Tesla shares plummeted 28%, signaling their worst month since a 37% drop in December 2022. The stock fell by an additional 3% on Monday alone.
And after Trump announced he would enact his disastrous tariff policy, it could bottleneck Tesla’s manufacturing, fracturing it even more.
“We note that potential tariffs on Mexico and Canada pose significant risk to our [North American] production estimates and could create a supply shock similar to COVID,” Bank of America analyst John Murphy said to CNBC on Tuesday. He also highlighted that “sentiment on the brand [is] potentially souring.”
This comes after the six weeks of Musk meddling in the federal government via his so-called Department of Government Efficiency, which is gutting federal agencies, firing thousands of federal employees, and generally wreaking havoc on Americans.
In addition to Musk poisoning his brand’s supposed coolness, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that the company’s sales in China have slowed by a staggering 49% in February compared with the previous year at that time.
“I don’t even want to drive it,” one Tesla owner told the Associated Press. “He’s destroying the brand with his politics.”
Tesla sales are dropping all across Europe. As Daily Kos’ Markos Moulitsas reported in January, the decline in Tesla sales has largely tracked with Musk’s entrance into politics last year.
Americans are angry over Musk’s hand in the government and have taken to protesting nationwide at Tesla dealerships or allegedly setting Tesla charging stations on fire. And those who were thinking about purchasing Teslas have gone on a “buyers strike,” while many of those who have already bought them are communicating their buyer’s remorse with bumper stickers, such as one reading, “We bought this car before we knew.”
Meanwhile, Musk is seemingly enriching himself through the government. Earlier this month, he reportedly hid the State Department’s plan to pay out $400 million to Tesla for armored vehicles—a contract the administration says it’s abandoning after it came to light.
Americans are pissed at Musk’s corruption, and they are telling him in the only way he understands: money.