Backlash against Tesla CEO Elon Musk for his cost-cutting role at the Department of Government Efficiency continues, and more than 60 protests were scheduled for Saturday and a dozen more for Sunday at Tesla showrooms across the United States.

Some locations doubled up as “Hands Off!” on Saturday, a week after more than 200 demonstrations took place at Tesla locations as part of the grassroots “Tesla Takedown” movement. rally locations — a separately organized mass day of protests nationwide.
In order to harm the world’s richest man, whose wealth is primarily tied to the electric vehicle manufacturer, the Tesla Takedown campaign encourages Tesla drivers to sell their vehicles and company stakeholders to sell their shares of stock.

On Saturday, more than fifty people were demonstrating in front of a Tesla showroom in Rockville, Maryland, a suburb of Washington, DC. According to Susan Barnett, a New York City-based media professional, she traveled to Maryland for a reunion with two longtime friends and to advocate for safe water and foreign government support. “Congress has to remember that despite what the White House is saying, we do have a stake in the world,”

Contracts have been cut, employees have been fired or offered buyouts, and DOGE has cut a wide range of federal agencies. According to the DOGE website, taxpayers have saved $140 billion.

Musk recently stated on his social media platform X, “Who is funding and organizing all of these paid protests?,” that protesters at Tesla locations are paid.
Madeline Gupta told CNN outside the Tesla location in Rockville that she’s not being paid. While holding a sign reading “Democracy over oligarchy,” Gupta said she is concerned by policy changes under President Donald Trump’s administration.
“This new administration, including Musk, who wasn’t even elected, is trying to destroy our democracy, and we cannot let that happen,” she said.
Tesla Takedown organizers believe the campaign, which is in its eighth week, will continue to grow despite pushback from Musk and the Trump administration.

According to the organizers, who spoke with media “Bring ‘paid protestors’ is a deflection from admitting how unpopular Musk and DOGE has become.” The closing price of Tesla shares on Friday was $239.43, a drop of more than 50% from their peak in December. The decline followed Tesla’s announcement Wednesday that sales plunged 13% in the first three months of 2025 — the largest drop in its history. The company said it delivered 336,681 cars, which was 50,000 fewer than the first quarter of 2024.

Hints of Musk’s exit from DOGE

Tesla, SpaceX, and the social media platform X are owned by the world’s richest man, Elon Musk. He was initially chosen to co-head DOGE with billionaire biotech mogul Vivek Ramaswamy. Trump said that the temporary agency would finish its cost-cutting efforts “no later than July 4, 2026.” But Ramaswamy’s time was short-lived, and Musk’s role as the face of DOGE may conclude sooner than expected. Trump on Monday told reporters that “at some point, (Musk is) going to be going back. He wants to.”
Musk responded Wednesday on X that it was “fake news” that he would step away from DOGE in the coming weeks.
The administration, however, confirmed on Wednesday that Musk is expected to wrap up his stint as Trump’s hatchet man in late May or June, when his 130 days as a “special government employee” comes to an end.

on March 20, Musk admitted to Tesla staff in Austin, Texas, that he is “stretched pretty thin. I work about 17 jobs. Musk has also discussed the toll the backlash has taken on him and his electric car company.

In an interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier that aired on March 28, Musk responded to criticism he gets about DOGE and addressed the vandalism against Tesla.
“It’s actually disadvantageous for me to be in the government, not advantageous,” Musk said about his role with DOGE. “My companies are suffering because I’m in the government.”
“Do you think it helps sales if (Tesla) dealerships are being firebombed? Of course not,” Musk said.
Demonstrations at Tesla showrooms have mostly been peaceful, although there have been separate reports of vandalism at Tesla locations.
Axios media correspondent Sara Fischer, who has covered Musk extensively, told CNN’s Jessica Dean on Saturday that he is “somebody who can get bored really easily.” She said he would probably prefer to return to the private sector amid the trade war and after chalking up his time with DOGE as a win.
“I think he ‘came, saw and conquered,’ right?” said Fischer, a CNN media analyst. “He came, he did DOGE, he cut spending. He’ll go back to the private sector and call the whole thing a victory. He also then gets to sort of wipe his hands clean of some of these economic policies if they fall through.”