Featured Image Credit: ANGELA WEISS / Contributor / Getty
It looks like Elon Musk has found another celebrity to feud with, and as things go from bad to worse with threats of Tesla boycotts, vandalism, and violence breaking out at dealerships, the controversial tech billionaire has a lot on his plate right now.
If heading up SpaceX and Tesla wasn't enough, Elon Musk also decided to spin another plate by becoming the head of the Department of Government Efficiency.
However, with the world's richest man trying to cut $2 trillion from government spending and thousands of workers being shown the door, his role heading up the DOGE has made him more divisive than ever.
This controversy has spilled over into Tesla, with $800 million being wiped from its market cap and Musk losing $29 billion in a single day.
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He's still the richest man in the world, but while Donald Trump tried to turn the front of the White House into a Tesla showroom in order to promote the EV brand, the wolves are still at the door when it comes to Mr. Musk.
Discussing the recent spate of vandalism against Teslas with Fox News, Musk said the company has always been 'peaceful' and admitted he's shocked by the recent backlash: "I think we just have a deranged – there’s some kind of mental illness thing going on here because this doesn’t make any sense."
When Jimmy Kimmel played the clip on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, he chimed in saying: "Well, let me see if I can explain it for you. When you pull out a chainsaw to celebrate firing thousands of people, they get mad."
This refers to scenes where Musk went viral at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) when brandishing a gilded chainsaw while seemingly mocking the government cuts.
Kimmel added: "My god. I mean, this poor guy. You do one, maybe two Nazi salutes, everybody gets all bent out of shape!"
Concluding with a jibe about when Molotov cocktails have been launched at at least three Tesla dealerships across the US, Kimmel said: "Here’s the thing, I get that people are upset.
"Burning a car might not be great for the environment. I don’t think that’s what they had in mind when they invented the electric car.
"In Las Vegas yesterday, someone threw a Molotov cocktail at a Tesla service center. At least five Teslas blew up, one from the Molotov and four because that’s just what Teslas do sometimes."
The ever-online Musk quickly responded and wrote, "What a jerk" on X. A seemingly pressed Musk then added, "He’s such an unfunny jerk," a few minutes later.
This beef with Kimmel comes after Musk recently branded Mike Myers as equally unfunny for his impression.
In response to Musk's musings on Kimmel, the comments quickly became a warzone of their own.
Calling out Musk's recent actions, one critic said: "Elon laughing at people losing their jobs then calling someone a jerk is pretty funny."
Another added: "But it's A-OK for a president to mock physical handicaps of press members? Or trash women?"
One Musk supporter said: "Elon, don’t listen to that hack. The people who are doing all this are crazy as hell. Your stock will go back up when this blows over."
Another Tesla fan finished: "Yes, he’s a jerk. He’s not even funny anymore. He’s just a pathetic, lefty lunatic. Tesla❤️🇺🇸."
It doesn't like the drama is dying down anytime soon for Tesla shareholders.
