The Daily Signal - Victor Davis Hanson: The Left’s Tesla Terrorism Agenda

Episode Date: March 25, 2025

Victor Davis Hanson breaks down how these violent acts fit into a broader pattern of political intimidation on today's episode of "Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words." “ We’ve had Molotov cocktails thrown at dealerships and we’ve had Tesla charging stations that were attacked. What is the point of all of this? … They’re trying to drive down Elon Musk’s popularity and indeed his viability. “ There was a message to the Left and it said, ‘If you engage in street violence, that is considered legitimate political protest, legitimate political protest, and there will not be legal consequences.’” 00:00 Introduction 01:00 Tesla Under Attack 02:03 Mainstream Endorsement of Violence 04:18 Political Hypocrisy and Asymmetrical Law Enforcement 07:24 Conclusion Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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We'd love to talk, business. Right now, there's an effort to sort of legitimize terror. And here's what I mean. Tesla dealerships, Tesla charging stations, individual Tesla owners are either being doxed or targeted for violent acts. What is the point of all of this? Terror porn. Hello, this is Victor Davis Hansen for the Daily Signal. I'd like to talk today about what I think I would call.

terror porn. It's analogous to Hitler porn. Hitler porn, of course, is when you castigate or denigrate a public figure by comparing them to Hitler. Sort of like the New Republic putting a cover with Donald Trump with a Hitler mustache dressed up as a Nazi leader, and that we saw that all during the campaign in various manifestations. But right now, there's an effort to sort of legitimize terror. And here's what I mean. As we scan the news, Tesla dealerships, Tesla charging stations, individual Tesla owners are either being doxed or targeted for violent acts. We've had cases where Tesla drivers were pushed off the road and confronted by left-wing activists. We've had Molotov cocktails thrown at dealerships, and we've had Tesla charging stations that were attacked.

What is the point of all of this? The point is to send a message that anyone who would buy a Tesla or drive a Tesla or even have Tesla stock should not, because by the use of this violent activity, they're trying to drive down Elon Musk's population. and indeed his viability. And this is what's very ironic about it. One of the ways that the left is doing this is not just to use all of this left-wing money that comes through non-government organizations, foundations, political action committee, and filtered to these various groups, but to have mainstream spokespeople engage themselves

in terror porn. I'll give you some examples. The late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmy Kim, Kim, Kimmel said, something along the lines, well, we shouldn't burn Tesla's, but then he had this pregnant pause. We shouldn't burn Tesla's, meaning, of course, you should do that. Governor Waltz, we talked before, has sizable investments in Tesla stock in Minnesota, of which he is the governor. He's in charge of protecting that investment for the taxpayers. He went on stage and bragged that his app said that the Tesla price was going to, and he's

down, down. He called Elon Musk an ass, H-O-L-E. He was back at it again. We mentioned earlier. He called him a NEPO baby and a South African questioning the legitimacy of his American citizenship, apparently. Then we had Jasmine Crockett, who is online and Zooms and other venues, trying to help organize Stop Tesla with a little qualifier. We don't quite want to. want violence, even though that she knows that almost all of these efforts have a violent aspect to it. You would have thought that astronaut Mark Kelly might have wanted to comment on the spectacular rescue of two astronauts that were brought back to Earth on the space X super rocket. Instead, he didn't do any of that sort. Instead, he cut a video showing that he's

getting rid of this car because he said he didn't want this Tesla anymore because it was made by an A-S-S-H-H-O-E. There must be some type of Democratic talking points that says you're supposed to call Elon Musk an A-S-S-H-O-L-E. What is going on? What's going on is this is the legacy of asymmetrical law enforcement over the Biden years. If you were a protester on the abortion question, then you were peaceable, peaceful, and you protested peacefully, but you were trying to limit abortion, the FBI was unleashed on you. If you were a rioter in 2020, and for the month, the end of May, June, July, August, September, into October, you participated in burning a federal court house, a police precinct, an iconic church.

You were part of the movement that destroyed $2 billion in property, resulted in 35 deaths, 1,500 police officers, and you were one of 14,000 people arrested. The chances that you were going to be arrested if you were 14,000, and then subsequently arraigned, indicted, convicted in jail, were minuscule. It was just a fraction. In comparison with the January 6 protesters, many of whom four years in prison, and over 900 of them were convicted. So what I'm getting at is there was a message to the left. And it said, if you engage in street violence, that is considered

legitimate political protest, legitimate political protest, and there will not be legal consequences. A final note. Chuck Schumer, we've talked about before, is a very funny person. He poses as a sober and judicious senior spokesman of the Democratic Party, and he is the Democratic now minority leader in the Senate. He was the one, remember, as I've said on at least one broadcast that said, you, Judge Gorsuch, you, Judge Kavanaugh have sown the wind and you will reap the world when and you don't know what's hit hit you he he returned to that type of threats again when he recently said that in in defense of his activism i mean remember they the far left says he's not activist enough what he said was you shouldn't get angry about me i got all of these left-wing judges

appointed that were cherry-picking to stop the trump agenda through executive orders but here was the key word. And he said, we are sending people in to Republican districts to disrupt and have consequences for their votes. So what I'm getting at is there's a two-tier system. There's the front-line soldiers who were burning Teslas and intimidating Tesla owners. And then there is the sober and judicious democratic functionaries, the architecture of the progressive movement, who with a wink and a nod says, we've got to protest. We've got to. We've got to and organized, but let's not get violent. But in fact, they are greenlining violence themselves. Thank you very much. This is Victor Davis-Hansson for The Daily Signal.

Thank you for watching today's podcast. And for more news like that, subscribe to the Daily Signal. Maybe you can check out my own website at victorhansen.com for podcast, lectures, ultra-series behind a paywall, but more importantly, just daily columns that are accessible and free to everyone. Thank you very much.