The French know a thing or two about Nazis. They can see them coming from a mile away because at one point, they saw them from up close.
So, when French Tesla owners band together to sue the brand for becoming a symbol of “the extreme-right,” it’s tough to argue against it. But a Tesla lawyer will likely have to do exactly that.
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In a lawsuit that all but directly calls Elon Musk a Nazi, French Tesla drivers are demanding to break their lease contracts and get reimbursed for legal costs. Why? They claim owning a Tesla has become politically radioactive.
According to law firm GKA, their clients bought the cars thinking they were investing in innovation and ecology. They didn’t know there were rolling around in the modern equivalent of driving a Mercedes-Benz in the early 1940s.
Or even a Ford, because lest we forget that Henry Ford was an anti-Semitic Nazi sympathizer.
Tesla Sued Over Elon Musk’s ‘Extreme Right’ Politics
The backlash stems from Musk’s public embrace of far-right politics. The Tesla CEO made it clear as day that he was making Nazi salutes at Trump’s inauguration rally and he’s phoned in to extremist events in support of extra far right extremist political candidates across Europe.
The typical electric car buyer likely leans a little too much to the left, so you can understand how Elon is precision targeting the primary demographic for his cars. He’s just not a smart man.
His drug-fueled descent into fascist madness and his subsequent and inevitable feud with Trump have pushed everyone away across the political spectrum. Tesla, as a brand, is in the toilet. The company can’t sell its crown jewel, the Cybertruck, because it’s an ugly hunk of metal that nobody likes. And nobody likes the man associated with it.
It is remarkable how much goodwill Elon earned for doing relatively nothing and how quickly he ruined it all. Ketamine must be a hell of a drug.
Tesla’s sales figures in Europe have been in a steady freefall, and then last month got even worse when they dropped by half. Resale values are in free fall. It’s all just a titanic mess.
The plaintiffs argue Musk’s sharp turn into right-wing extremism has “interrupted enjoyment” of their vehicles. That sounds like a real bougie ass problem on the surface until you remember they dropped serious cash on a product now dragging their reputations through the mud.
Their lawyer, Patrick Klugman, says Musk owes them the “peaceful possession of the thing sold.”
Is this the first time in automotive history that a CEO’s egomania, as expressed through his incomprehensible, drug-fueled Twitter ramblings, has led to once proud members of his customer base suing him for ruining their reputations by simply owning one of his cars? Probably.
