As I entered the Turcot interchange, my bike let me down. Cowardly, in the middle of the highway. In the rearview mirror, I saw an eighteen-wheeler speeding toward me. I gritted my teeth, and the steering wheel, then I said to myself:
1) Goodbye, life, it’s been a beautiful one wrinkled.
2) If I get through this, I’ll buy a new tank.
I got through it. Since then, between my readings of The Press and of New York Times, I discreetly leaf through the Car Guide. Why not an electric vehicle? After all, it is the way of the future. First observations:
1) Well, come on, an electric car isn’t cheap.
2) One thing is for sure, it won’t be a Tesla.
Nothing to do with the price or the recommendations of the Car Guide. Only, on my very small scale, I refuse to contribute to enriching Elon Musk, the insufferable billionaire at the head of this company.
Okay, so my resolution is pretty lame, since I’ve never been a Tesla fan — or any other brand, for that matter. I admit, I don’t know anything about cars. As long as the thing gets from point A to point B, I’m good to go.
That said, some real fans are starting to shun the brand. Business customers are also turning away. This week, a German drugstore chain announced that Teslas would no longer be part of its fleet. And all for one reason: Elon Musk.
His drift towards the extreme right, his provocative publications on X and his support for Donald Trump alienate a significant number of customers, reveals a survey by the Washington Post.
Read “Elon Musk’s embrace of Trump is turning off these Tesla lovers” (subscription required)
In the United States, Tesla sales are declining. For the first time, market share fell below 50% in the second quarter. The share price has fallen by 19.5% this year.
There are several factors behind this decline — including the arrival of new competitors on the American market. But it seems clear that the political activism of Tesla’s big boss also has something to do with it. And, frankly, he asked for it.
If Americans vote with their wallets, he has only himself to blame.
I will probably be told, with varying degrees of politeness, that since I am not American, I have no business getting involved in Elon Musk’s affairs.
That’s what European Commissioner Thierry Breton was told when he expressed concern about a possible “amplification of dangerous content” on Monday, before the broadcast on X of a long chat between Musk and Trump. “With a large audience comes great responsibility,” the commissioner warned.
Trump’s communications director responded: “The European Union should mind its own business instead of trying to interfere in the American presidential election.”
Musk wasn’t so polite. In response, he sent a meme to the European Commissioner: “Take a big step back and LITERALLY FUCK YOUR OWN FACE!”
Classy and tasteful, isn’t it?
The most shocking thing is not the childish insults. It is that Elon Musk does not hesitate to meddle in the affairs of other nations. He uses his platform to influence millions of people outside of America’s borders.
Well hidden behind his screen, the richest man on the planet enjoys stirring up tensions simmering on the other side of the world. When the streets are ablaze, he finds nothing better to do than to throw oil on the fire. We saw this during the race riots in the United Kingdom, fueled by disinformation that Musk himself largely contributed to spreading on X.
The British Prime Minister was reduced to begging the eccentric billionaire to act a little more responsibly, if that’s all the same to you, Mr Musk…
The Tesla boss also regularly attacks Justin Trudeau, whom he compared to a sort of poor man’s Adolf Hitler, no less, back when the “freedom parade” was performing in downtown Ottawa. Later, as the federal government sought to limit content likely to incite hatred, Musk accused the prime minister of wanting to “crush freedom of expression” for Canadians.
On the contrary, he describes himself as an “absolutist of freedom of expression”. It is even to protect this very fragile freedom that he claims to have acquired Twitter.
Two years later, the social network, renamed X, has completed its conversion into a gigantic mess where fake news, conspiracy theories and far-right discourse flourish, not only uninhibited, but proud of it.
Since January, false or misleading information relayed by Elon Musk about the American elections has garnered 1.2 billion views, my colleague Alexandre Sirois pointed out on Wednesday.
Read “Is Elon Musk a Threat to Democracy?”
Of all the chaos-mongers operating on X, the most prolific is, without a doubt, its own owner.
After long denigrating electric vehicles, Donald Trump now admits that he has “no choice” to be in favor, given Musk’s support for his campaign. If not enthusiastic, this has the merit of being frank.
It remains to be seen whether Musk’s fans will go so far as to abandon their gas-guzzling vehicles. Personally, I doubt it. For many of them, electric cars are like vaccines: a fad that the liberticidal government is trying to impose on the population.
Still: if Musk’s support for Trump repels some Tesla fans, most of them Democrats, this same support could, conversely, convince some Republican voters to switch to electric. For the planet, that would still be something.
On that note, you’ll excuse me, but I have to go and get my car from the garage.