Yesterday, the President of the United States filmed an advertisement for Tesla on the driveway of the White House. They might as well have erected a ginormous flag and one of those balloon men that flop around, because the South Lawn is a car dealership now. Maybe they could have unfurled a sign that read "Deals Deals Deals!"
Except there were no deals. Instead, there was a line of five Teslas looking like shiny garbage. The reason behind this is simple: Elon Musk is now the president's big boy best friend, and Elon Musk has four jobs (Twitter, SpaceX, destroying the government illegally, and Tesla). His fourth job, Tesla, is the one he seems the most sensitive about, probably because it's the only one that had even a slight chance of success. Instead, Tesla stock has been dropping since mid-December, because many Americans have realized that Elon Musk is a goon.
So Donald Trump, President of the United States of America, did an advertisement for a private company. Embarrassingly, he did this sponsored content for free, something every baby influencer knows better than to do. "President Trump made the personal decision to buy a Tesla, at a market rate," White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said. So he lost money (theoretically) because he promised (okay.) to buy a Tesla for roughly $80,000 American dollars with a check (what).
For all the stupid shit happening at this advertising event, Trump didn't even say he would drive the car himself. He told reporters that he would leave the Tesla at the White House for his staff, which very much sounds like him announcing that he will be ignoring it. Plus, Trump famously hates electric cars, once joking that “electric cars are good if you have a towing company.” He has only reversed this position to endorse Elon, who is his best boy. This is all unbelievably tacky.
"Critics said the spectacle stretched the bounds of what is ethical in the White House," the Washington Post wrote. It is legally unethical for everyone in the White House except for the president. Federal regulations very explicitly prohibit White House staffers from using their positions to endorse companies or products. But the president, also, is not supposed to be doing unpaid spon con for electric cars. The presidency is supposed to be a respected position.
The U.S. Office of Government Ethics, a separate and independent executive branch agency, warned the Trump White House in 2017 about endorsing brands when Kellyanne Conway (tbt!) spent a bunch of minutes blabbing about Ivanka Trump's sad clothing line for women who think they're too good for Anne Taylor Loft but still need A-line dresses on Fox & Friends. “Go buy Ivanka’s stuff,” she said. “I’m going to give it a free commercial here.” The office then determined that Conway was unlikely to overstep this ethical line again.
Playing the woulda-coulda-shoulda game with the first Trump administration is a waste of everyone's time. We have talked it to death. We cannot do anything about the fact that Conway obviously should have been forced to step down for this massive breach of ethics. What we can do is something today.
Elon Musk is the world's richest person. He has billions of dollars in government contracts, and he is evil. He is greedy and slimy and stupid and he wants more money. Trump's advertisement is nothing except a little hissy fit over the fact that Tesla's stock is dropping because Musk is showing the country exactly who he is with his behavior. Americans are mad that he is destroying what little government safety net remains for some of our weakest comrades—the elderly, the disabled, the veterans—and they want to do something about it.
There are several options for responding. We can call the Democrats and demand they hold this office ethically accountable. We can call the Democrats and ask them to stop playing nice and rolling over in front of fascism. We can call the Democrats and beg them to do literally anything. Or, we could do it ourselves. Already, good people who are furious have started robust protests in front of Tesla dealerships.
To go to a protest is an act of optimism—a belief that the country can be better. I, too, believe it can be if we make it so. Last week, I saw a Tesla in my neighborhood with a half-dozen bumper stickers slapped across the front window, making it undriveable. This is good. The owner of that car purchased something, but purchasing something is not an identity. It is a bad investment. Get rid of your Tesla, or continue to be mocked. The future of the world as a place that can sustain human life is in jeopardy.
This whole White House stunt is a life raft, because it is so unbelievably over for Tesla. The stock is falling. The public sentiment is against them. They've lost. Do not for one minute let them make you believe that they haven't. No amount of advertisements by the president can overrule a quiet and constant fear that your car could be egged or plastered with bumper stickers or hit with a baseball bat at any time. The legions of police forces at Tesla dealerships can't stop that from happening after the cars leave the lot.
There is nothing Elon Musk loves more than money, and we can take that from him. His power will not insulate him from an infinite tsunami of hate, and truly no one deserves it more than he does. To use the presidency as an advertisement for his stupid cars should be his death knell. It is an embarrassment. It is cocky and stupid. It should have massive consequences doled out in small actions by thousands of people. It's our country. We cannot allow this kind of behavior to exist without consequences. We must be brave and so, so, so annoying.
