‘SWASTICAR’

Elon Musk’s “dark MAGA” politics are sparking a backlash as protestors swarm his car showrooms, pelt his Cybertrucks, and publicly shame Tesla owners. His fortune is shrinking — ironically, thanks to Trump.

• Heavy sits the crown on Shadow President Elon Musk. He’s still the world’s richest man, but his money bags are getting lighter. The stock market valuation of his biggest company, automaker Tesla, fell 15 percent on Monday alone — capping an almost 50 percent dip since December. It was the worst day for Tesla since the pandemic hit in 2020, and the company has lost some $700 billion in value over the past two months.

• Musk admitted he’s having “great difficulty” running his six companies. Well, no shit! He spends most of his time attempting to smash the federal government, tweeting all day and maintaining a world-class videogame regimen (though, okay, he also hires gamers to play for him). Little wonder things are… blowing up. Literally. SpaceX, his heretofore massively successful rocket launch company, has suffered two major explosions this year.

• Tesla stock accounts for the bulk of Musk’s fortune. But if he thought throwing up what looked like a Nazi salute and boosting Germany’s far-right political party would help the brand, he was wrong. “Tesla is becoming a political symbol of Trump and DOGE, and that is a bad thing for the brand,” financial analyst Dan Ives told PBS News . “You think it’s helping, but it’s actually hurting.”

• Protestors are targeting Tesla dealerships. Last week, shots were fired at a showroom in Oregon, a protester threw molotov cocktails at another in Colorado, and police arrested people in Manhattan. Outside a Tesla dealership in Maryland, dozens of protestors recently gathered and held signs, spotted by a What A Day reader: “Honk if you think Elon is a fascist,” “Boycott Tesla,” “Elon Musk is looting America,” “Menace, Usurper, Sadist, Kleptocrat,” and “Do not buy a Swasticar.” Tesla trucks in a Lundi Gras parade in New Orleans were pelted with beer cans and beads, until a window reportedly cracked and the Teslas fled.

• Now, Trump is going to bat for his favorite centibillionaire and biggest political donor. He’s buying a Tesla — and threatening those protesting against the company. “You should cherish him,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. This afternoon, Trump said he’ll label protesters at Tesla dealerships “domestic terrorists.” (Can he, uh… even do that?)

Between Tesla’s struggles and the stock market collapse, it looks like, so far, MAGA has been bad for business.

BERNIE BROS 4 LYFE

He’s 83 years old. He’s not in power. He’s expected to retire soon. And despite all that, he’s still drawing so many people to political rallies that they have to turn people away.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) is the only elected progressive politician who had embarked on a nation-wide campaign to challenge MAGA, and the reception has far exceeded his expectations, he told Crooked’s Jon Lovett on Pod Save America.

“These are all the scariest times in my life. That’s objectively the truth,” Sanders said. The massive crowds show Americans aren’t going to let Trump “turn us into an authoritarian society, and they’re not going to allow him to give tax breaks to billionaires and cut the programs that working class people need.”

What Trump and Musk hope is they can create a sense of powerlessness in people, Sanders explained. Both men are signaling to voters that “‘I got all the money, I got all the power, I own the media, I can buy elections. What do you think you can do? You can’t stop me.’”

If people believe that, Democrats are going to lose, Sanders said. “But if people understand that when they stand up and fight back … [they can] lay the groundwork for victory.”

Listen to the full interview here, it’s great.

NEWS NEWS NEWS

The House passed the GOP’s continuing resolution, a stopgap spending measure to avoid a government shutdown before this weekend. Now, it goes to the Senate. Will Democrats go along… or filibuster? The deadline is Friday.

The U.S. announced that it would lift its pause on sending weapons to and sharing intelligence with Ukraine. That came hours after Ukraine launched its largest drone attack on Moscow.

Donald Trump abruptly called off tariffs on Canadian aluminum and steel he announced this morning, after Ontario slapped hefty retaliatory tariffs on electricity imports into the United States. These tariff shenanigans are spooking the stock market, which recently lost $4 trillion in value. Business genius, amirite!

The Trump administration announced that it will fire half of all Education Department employees tonight. About 4,400 people work there. In a statement to What A Day, Tariq Habash, a former adviser in Biden’s Education Department, accused Trump of “illegally attacking Department staff with decades of expertise” to “silence dissent and target anyone who opposes his agenda.” The department didn’t respond to our request for comment.

The Trump administration’s funding freeze is leaving Fulbright scholars stranded abroad. One scholar, studying microplastics in Mauritius — a small island 1,100 miles off the east coast of Africa — was expecting a $6,000 stipend, but instead received only $500, the Washington Post reports. What a kind way to treat this country’s brightest young minds.

Delta, Southwest and American airlines warned their investors that consumers aren’t spending as much this year. Gee, what’s the cause of that? Could it be air traffic controllers warning about safety as Trump slashes the federal workforce? Maybe. Southwest will begin charging passengers for checked luggage, which will surely make more people want to fly!

Former Rep. Katie Porter announced that she’s entering the race to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) next year. It’s possible that she’ll face former Vice President Kamala Harris… and a MAGA-pilled sheriff. This will be a wild one!

A top Justice Department official claims she was fired for refusing to recommend that actor Mel Gibson, a Trump ally, have his gun rights restored. Gibson’s rights were revoked after he was convicted on a domestic violence misdemeanor in 2011.

HHS Secretary and brainworm survivor Robert F. Kennedy Jr. promoted the Steak ‘n’ Shake fast food chain after it stopped using seed oils in its recipe. “Steak ‘n Shake just switched out, and people are raving about these french fries,” Kennedy told Fox News host Sean Hannity. RFK Jr. then chowed down on a burger and fries himself despite his holier-than-thou health regime — and the fact that nutritionists say seed oils are fine. This is the same guy who linked contracting measles to having a poor diet… so….

A wildfire that burned more than 600 acres on Long Island over the weekend was likely caused by someone making s’mores, local authorities said.

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