The Left's attack on Tesla
Liberals have no answer to the popular push to rein in fraudulent and wasteful federal spending, so they are lashing out. On Friday, the Justice Department charged a man with arson after five Molotov cocktails were lobbed at a Tesla charging station in South Carolina.
Federal arson investigators tracked a masked suspect using parking lot surveillance cameras that captured his face before he donned the covering. According to court documents, a search of this man’s home turned up a three-page handwritten screed complaining about the Department of Government Efficiency headed by Tesla chief Elon Musk.
“The statement made mention of sending a message based on these beliefs,” said the criminal complaint, adding that the accused had a similar note in his wallet.
This wasn’t an isolated incident. Nine days after President Trump was inaugurated, a transgender activist allegedly tossed Molotov cocktails at a Tesla dealership in Colorado and spray-painted statements against Elon Musk throughout.
Police investigators were tailing a likely culprit as he reportedly returned to the scene of the crime in his Prius with a box filled with everything needed to make a firebomb. The man, who goes by the name Lucy, is scheduled to stand trial on May 5.
Mr. Musk used to be a hero to such people. When the Tesla CEO figured out how to mass-manufacture a somewhat practical electric car, liberals swooned. Hollywood celebrities traded in their Bentleys and Lamborghinis. A six-figure Model S became a status symbol that signaled deep concern for the planet, allowing the global elite to roll up to their private jets with clean consciences.
Democratic regulators loved Tesla so much that they proposed to ban the sale of cars propelled by internal combustion. Uncle Sam chipped in $7,500 toward the purchase of any Tesla, and states showered multiple tax breaks on cars, chargers and electric car factories.
This was all fine as long as Mr. Musk parroted the typical left-of-center views of a Silicon Valley CEO, but everything changed when he bought Twitter and unmasked President Biden’s censorship schemes. The world’s richest man came out of the closet as a Republican after Mr. Trump survived an assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, in July.
Liberals have never forgiven the African American entrepreneur for his heresy. The organized protests and fiery reprisals are intended to send his stock value tumbling. It is down 40% since the inauguration. These dangerous antics won’t go over well now that the president has fired the pliant federal prosecutors who used to let antifa thugs off the hook.
“We don’t want this to happen, and not to someone who’s been so good to this country,” Mr. Trump said at a White House event last week. “We can’t let it happen.”
With 75% of its components made in the United States, the Tesla Model 3 is more of an American car than any Chevy, Ford or GM vehicle. That’s why Mr. Trump is a fan, but not too much of a fan. He did pull the plug on the federal mandate that would have forced consumers to buy electric cars, whether they wanted them or not. “I’m all about options,” Mr. Trump explained.
Vandalism isn’t the answer for liberals who seek revenge against Mr. Musk. Instead, they ought to join fiscal conservatives in a bipartisan push to end the mandates and giveaways for electric cars at every level of government. Let Mr. Musk’s fortune ride on merit, not subsidy.
— The Washington Times