Hundreds of people gathered outside Portland’s Tesla dealership during the afternoon rush hour on Monday, March 3, chanting and waving signs with messages like “Stop Musk’s coup,” “We Didn’t Elect Elon,” and “Send Elon Musk to Mars.” The roughly 300 protesters stood on both sides of South Macadam Avenue, attracting supportive honks from many drivers passing by—including a few in Teslas.
Participants said they were fed up with Tesla co-founder and CEO Elon Musk’s ongoing initiative to dismantle many key pieces of the federal government through his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and hoped to spread the word about the damage President Donald Trump’s new administration is doing.
Monday’s protest wasn’t the first time people have demonstrated outside Portland’s Tesla store. In the month and a half Trump has been back in office, multiple rallies have taken place at the site. The events have been organized by different people, but are connected through the national “Tesla Takedown” movement, which has seen similar events in cities across the country.
Many participants in Monday’s protest appeared to be motivated by the broad goal of protesting the Trump administration and Musk’s powerful role in it.
“Tesla is the closest thing we have in Portland to Elon, so let us peacefully protest in the right of way/sidewalk in front of the Portland dealership to increase visibility of this issue,” a statement on the event website explains.
But others are protesting Tesla with a more direct goal: To hit the company where it hurts, exploiting and revealing Musk’s weaknesses. The electric car company has seen its stocks tumble in recent weeks, and Musk opponents say there’s now a unique opportunity to do some damage to the billionaire’s bank account.
“The myth that Elon Musk is good at building businesses is one of the linchpins of all this,” Edward Niedermeyer, a Portland-based writer and critic who has covered Elon Musk and Tesla extensively, told the Mercury. “The whole thing is a confidence game.”
Niedermeyer, who organizes a weekly protest at Portland’s Tesla dealership on Saturday mornings, says even though Musk is the world’s richest person on paper, he’s very vulnerable to market fluctuation. Tesla is the most profitable of Musk’s businesses, but with the company value declining, his cash flow—and reputation as a successful entrepreneur—is at risk.
“When we protest, it’s stigmatizing the brand,” Niedermeyer said. “The game plan I see is that the stock keeps going down, which is accelerating even faster than I’d expected, and protests keep growing.”
One Tesla customer gave the protesters a big thumbs up as he pulled into the store parking lot on Monday afternoon. He said he was disgusted by Musk’s actions at DOGE, and shared his remorse about being affiliated with him through his wheels.
“It’s a fine automobile,” he said. “But I hate being associated with it.”
Niedermeyer and others motivated by getting to Musk through Tesla are looking forward to the company releasing its earnings report for the first quarter of 2025 in April. Over the next month, and culminating in a national day of action planned for April 5, advocates want to “do as much as [they] can to hurt the business.”
“That combination of a massive show of force and a really ugly earnings report, on top of the downward momentum in the stock, is going to be like one of those firefighting airplanes dumping gas on the fire,” Niedermeyer said.
Beyond advocating for individual customers to boycott or sell their Teslas, Niedermeyer has also urged larger agencies to divest from the company. The Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund (PERS), which pays for state employee pensions, holds more than $100 million in Tesla stock. Niedermeyer wants to use the public comment period at the March 5 Oregon Investment Council meeting as an opportunity to urge the state to pull its Tesla stock, saying it’s “both a bad investment and props up the unelected billionaire currently doing significant harm to the federal government.”
It’s unclear how much of an impact Musk’s actions and resulting protests have had on Tesla’s decline so far. The company’s sales have been especially dismal in many European countries, where other factors—like competition from other electric car manufacturers—could explain the drop. But considering the liberal, eco-conscious demographic Tesla and other electric vehicle companies have traditionally relied on, it’s reasonable to believe political backlash could result in long-term harm.
Meanwhile, most people at Monday’s protest didn’t appear overly concerned with Tesla’s stock value, treating the store more as a symbolic location to hold an anti-Trump and Musk rally. But regardless of their specific motivation, it’s clear the political situation has been mobilizing for many. One participant, Jane Getsla, told the Mercury the events of Trump’s second presidency have driven her to protest for the first time in her life.
“I’m 67, and I just started protesting,” Getsla said. “The things that are happening are unbelievable to me. Tesla and Musk are representative of the chaos of this regime.”
Carolanne Fry, who organized the March 3 protest, said she and other rally leaders plan to hold events at Tesla most Mondays. Niedermeyer says he’ll keep showing up to the site every Saturday morning at 11 am. Information about all the “Tesla Takedown” events can be found on Action Network.
“People feel really helpless right now. Messing with Elon’s money gives people something to do other than just doomscrolling,” Niedermeyer said. “What I’m trying to do with the protest here in Portland is to make it an opportunity to hit back, meet other people, and exchange ideas about the broader movement. But we also want to have fun. It’s important to have a little joy in times like this.”
