For months, protesters have gathered outside Tesla showrooms in response to Elon Musk’s role in reducing US government spending as part of the Department of Government Efficiency.
This weekend, protesters in Los Angeles found a new destination: Musk’s new 24-hour Tesla Diner in the Hollywood area.
Musk had touted the concept of an “old school drive-in, roller skates & rock restaurant” in 2018. Since opening on Monday, the retro-futuristic diner with electric vehicle-charging stations has had long lines of customers who are served burgers in Cybertruck-designed boxes. One customer posted to YouTube that he waited 11 hours for the restaurant to open.
But Joel Lava, who has helped organize “Tesla Takedown” demonstrations and has spearheaded protests at the diner, believes that protests could continue throughout the summer and that the buzz around the new restaurant will soon die down.
“(Customers are) waiting 11 hours so they can have Tesla-brand burgers and fries,” Lava told CNN. “This is the world’s most renowned anti-trans advocate who just opened a diner in West Hollywood. The community is not very supportive of Elon.”
Lava estimates as many as 75 demonstrators joined the diner protest on Saturday. He said organizers began planning protests for this weekend after the diner abruptly opened on Monday.
“Our main message is Tesla funds fascism. Elon Musk, via DOGE, has destroyed our government agencies and people’s jobs, and people are dying around the world because of him,” Lava said.
Tesla did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.
Lava said protest attendance for Tesla Takedown events peaked at the end of March, but has “been going strong.”
Protests outside of Tesla showrooms across the United States have remained a weekly staple in many cities, with 40 protests planned on the “Tesla Takedown” website for the weekend.
“We’ve already been successful in tarnishing the Tesla brand,” he said.
During last week’s second-quarter earnings call, Musk highlighted Tesla’s future — not its gloomy present-day — by reaffirming ambitious plans for the company’s robotaxi service and mass production of its humanoid robot, Optimus, which was serving popcorn at Musk’s diner.
Tesla’s auto revenue fell 16% from April to June and overall revenue was down 12%, according to its earnings report. Sales of its best-selling Model Y and Model 3 fell 12% compared with a year ago, while sales of its more expensive models, including the Cybertruck, plunged 52%.
Shares of Tesla (TSLA) were down more than 4% last week, closing at $316.06 on Friday, after falling 9% on Thursday. Since peaking at $479.86 on December 17, Tesla shares have plunged 34%.
