- Grammy-winning singer Sheryl Crow posted “So long Tesla” to Instagram. A majority of Americans don’t want Musk serving in Trump’s government, according to a Quinnipiac poll. Some who follow Musk closely think he may be overly insulated from criticism.
Chants of “sell your car” and “don’t buy Swasticars” greeted Tesla customers in Democrat strongholds like New York and Seattle at small demonstrations that cropped up outside some of the brand’s dealerships this weekend.
Nine-time Grammy winning singer Sheryl Crow joined the protests against Elon Musk by getting rid of her Tesla in protest. “There comes a time when you have to decide who you are willing to align with,” she wrote in a Saturday post on Instagram that garnered roughly 200,000 likes. “So long Tesla.”
Ok, fine… I’ll buy a 6th and 7th tesla this week 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/t5E4GPxYG7— @jason (@Jason) February 16, 2025
Musk is an unofficial advisor outside of cabinet and without codified power, and he is therefore not obliged to disclose his various corporate holdings or potential conflicts of interest. Congress has little ability to scrutinize the world’s wealthiest man. While the Tesla CEO did briefly answer questions from the press last week, he ignored an invitation to appear before the first House subcommittee hearing on his Department for Government Efficiency.
Surrounded by yes men?
Fred Lambert, editor-in-chief of the EV news site Electrek and a supporter turned critic of the entrepreneur, has often argued Musk’s “feedback loop” is broken. Too many supporters living off their proximity to the entrepreneur ensure there is little incentive to check Musk’s worst excesses, he believes.
It’s not dissimilar to what early Twitter investor Chris Sacca had warned at the outset of Musk’s takeover of Twitter, when he maligned the preponderance of yes men that have insulated the entrepreneur from criticism. By comparison, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has people around him, according to Sacca, who are “free to suggest to Zuck that he’s full of s–t.”
Musk posts about ‘infinite indignities I suffer’ on Twitter
For the moment, the protests don’t appear to be troubling Musk. He did not reply to any of the many posts debating the protests, one of which included a jibe from business associate Jason Calicanis.
Instead he remarked about the number of critics he has on X. “I am endlessly amused by the infinite indignities I suffer on the very platform that I own,” he tweeted on Monday.
The hate is real. Haven’t seen this before IRL. The tesla brand is broken. 😞 Going to have to sell my Cybertruck eventually. (This is not mine. Saw this driving today) $tsla pic.twitter.com/loMOohZWBd— Ross Gerber (@GerberKawasaki) February 16, 2025
But his lack of popularity could come back to haunt him. President Donald Trump may be riding high in the polls after delivering on number of campaign pledges since taking office, but a large majority of Americans oppose the Tesla CEO gaining access to the keys of government, according to a recent Quinnipiac poll.