Elon Musk and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman clashed on social media after the former accused the latter of funding groups responsible for organizing protests against Tesla.
The Tesla CEO said that there was a “100 percent chance” that Hoffman was supporting anti-Musk protests via the progressive organization Indivisible, causing Hoffman to respond by saying that “many people don’t like you.”
Newsweek contacted Hoffman and Musk via email and social media for comment on this story.
Why It Matters
Musk has become increasingly engaged in the protests against Tesla, which have continued throughout the second Trump administration. He has called for the arrest and prosecution of organizers, and has described the protesters as “bad people” with a “mental illness thing going on.” His accusations toward Hoffman show that Musk continues to be heavily invested in the situation.
What To Know
On Saturday, a series of posts from Alexandra Merz, a self-described “Elon Fangirl” on X, formerly Twitter, alleged that Hoffman was a “Major donor of Indivisible,” an organization that has organized several protests against Tesla.
Musk replied to the post, saying: “Reid will have many layers between himself and the organizations attacking me, but the probability is 100% that Reid is funding them. 100%.”
Hoffman soon replied, saying that support for Tesla was propped up by bots, and that the protests against Musk were fueled by genuine dislike for him and his role in the federal government.
“The probability many, many people don’t like you? 100%,” Hoffman wrote. “Probability that Tesla polls need to be rigged by bots to cover up the fact that people don’t like you? 100%. Probability you’d rather make s*** up about me than fix your problems? 100%.”
March saw a notable rise in protests against Tesla, with reports of vandalism to Tesla vehicles and dealerships in multiple states. The FBI is still investigating an incident in Kansas City in which multiple Cybertrucks were damaged at a Tesla dealership.
Musk’s rhetoric against the protests has become increasingly irate as they have continued. In March, he theorized that they were caused by people being angry about his attempts to reduce government spending by clamping down on fraud as de facto chief of the DOGE [Department of Government Efficiency].
Musk said: “It turns out when you take away the money people get fraudulently, they get very upset. They basically want to kill me because I’m stopping their fraud, and they want to hurt Tesla because we are stopping this terrible waste and corruption in the government. I guess they are bad people. Bad people do bad things.”
What People Are Saying
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a March 18 statement: “The swarm of violent attacks on Tesla property is nothing short of domestic terrorism. The Department of Justice has already charged several perpetrators with that in mind, including in cases that involve charges with five-year mandatory minimum sentences.
“We will continue investigations that impose severe consequences on those involved in these attacks, including those operating behind the scenes to coordinate and fund these crimes.”
What Happens Next
Protests against Tesla are expected to continue in the coming months while Musk maintains his roles as both the company’s CEO and a top adviser within the Trump administration.
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