Steve Benen is a producer for 'The Rachel Maddow Show,' the editor of MaddowBlog and an MSNBC political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of 'Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past.'
The latest earnings report for Tesla was widely expected to show awful results. As it turns out, even the pessimists were too optimistic: Company profits fell a whopping 71% in the first quarter of the year, compared to the same three-month period a year ago.
Making matters worse, Tesla has lost roughly 50% of its value from its mid-December peak. In fact, the closer one looks, the worse the details appeared. A New York Times report noted that Tesla actually would have lost money in the first quarter “had it not earned $400 million in interest on cash and investments and $595 million from selling credits to other carmakers that failed to meet emissions regulations that has pledged to eliminate.” In March, the White House hosted what was effectively an infomercial for Tesla on the South Lawn. Evidently, it didn’t help. As for why, exactly, Tesla has struggled so badly, it appears Elon Musk’s broad unpopularity, driven by his destructive DOGE work and interest in right-wing causes, played a meaningful role in pushing consumers away. Indeed, the company stated as much in its official response to the woeful earnings report, acknowledging a “changing political sentiment” related to Tesla. Musk responded to the discouraging data by telling investors that Tesla protesters are “obviously” being paid — a bizarre claim that was every bit as pitiful as it sounded — though as NBC News reported, that’s not all he said. “Starting probably next month, May, my time obligation to DOGE will drop significantly,” Musk said during a call with investors. “I think I’ll continue to spend a day or two per week on government matters for as long as the president would like me to do so, and for as long as it is useful, but starting next month, I’ll be allocating far more of my time to Tesla, now that the major work of establishing the Department of Government Efficiency is done,” he added. Whether the billionaire intends to follow through on this commitment remains to be seen. What’s more, for Tesla shareholders concerned about Musk’s divided attention, it’s notable that even if he “significantly” curtails his White House work, he’ll still help lead other companies, such as SpaceX, xAI and X . But as a purely political matter, one of the overarching questions is whether the damage Musk has done to Tesla’s brand is irreparable. Between the polling and the protests at the company’s outlets, it’s easy to believe Tesla has passed the point of no return for many consumers.
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