“F*ck Elon Musk”: The World Turns On Tesla CEO After He Sues Alameda County

Update 5/10/2020 8AM EST: As he stated he was going to do yesterday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk filed an 18-page lawsuit that asked a federal judge to allow him to re-open his factory in Fremont.

“Alameda County’s power grab not only defies the governor’s orders, but offends the federal and California constitutions,” the lawsuit said. The suit argues that Alameda County “had violated the due process and equal protection clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment and sought an injunction that would allow the company to operate.”

Later in the day on Saturday, Tesla, likely covering for Musk’s fiasco and trying to do damage control, put out a blog post called “Getting Back to Work”. 

The response to Musk’s actions this weekend from many on social media, including Democrats and left-leaning California politicians, was robust. CA Assemblywoman Lorena S. Gonzalez simply Tweeted “F*ck Elon Musk.”

F*ck Elon Musk.

— Lorena (@LorenaSGonzalez) May 10, 2020

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And she doesn’t appear to be the only one that’s “over” Musk and his antics. Comedian Michael Rapaport referred to Musk as “Ant Dick Man”, saying “Guy thinks he’s Tony Stark but he ain’t”.

Said he saw the entire COVID problem play out in China and now is watching the sequel in the US. Yet did NOTHING to sound the alarm. Now he complains all about it affecting HIM. Guy thinks he’s Tony Stark but he ain’t. Youre no Iron Man. No Free Captain America. Ant Dick Man https://t.co/QUgk79bw48

— MichaelRapaport (@MichaelRapaport) May 9, 2020

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“Fuck that bozo,” replied celebrity jeweler Ben Baller.

He should build another car I can get locked in for 47 min and miss my wife’s bday party. Fuck that bozo @elonmusk

— BEN BALLER™ (@BENBALLER) May 9, 2020

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Former Secretary of Labor and Berkeley professor Robert Reich called Musk “the worst of capitalism”. Musk then responded, in Russian, calling Reich an idiot. 

идиот

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 10, 2020

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“Hard times are a test of character; and by that measure Elon Musk is proving a total zero,” said Columbia professor and Author Tim Wu:

Hard times are a test of character; and by that measure Elon Musk is proving a total zero https://t.co/PNOjxJfmnR

— Tim Wu (@superwuster) May 10, 2020

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“This is a perfect time to remember all the people who thought this guy was going to save the world,” one journalist wrote. 

Elon Musk, who is worth about $40 billion, is threatening to move Tesla out of California over its shelter in place order.

There is no vaccine or treatment for COVID-19.

This is a perfect time to remember all the people who thought this guy was going to save the world. https://t.co/Vihrs27KNS

— Walker Bragman (@WalkerBragman) May 10, 2020

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Finally, well known Tesla short seller, Yale law school graduate and former 30 year trial attorney Montana Skeptic broke down the (lack of) merits of Musk’s lawsuit, before offering up his services pro bono to help out Alameda County in this thread:

1/ Of course, when His Holiness of the Common Cold, @elonmusk, threatened to have $TSLA sue Alameda County, he had already instructed his favorite smashmouth lawyer to file the lawsuit. Let’s take a quick look: pic.twitter.com/bV6rnV36tg

— Montana Skeptic (@montana_skeptic) May 9, 2020

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Of course, if the SEC had just done its job the first time Musk committed securities fraud, we wouldn’t be having to deal with any of this mess. But far be it for us to expect that.

—

Recall just days ago we reported that Tesla was sending people back to work at its Fremont factory in Alameda County before the area’s lockdown expired.

Then, late last week, Alameda County responded by telling Musk that he could not re-open his factory. “We have not given the green light. We have been working with them looking at some of their safety plans. But no, we have not said that it is appropriate to move forward,” Erica Pan, interim health officer for the Alameda County Public Health Department, said on an online town hall meeting on Friday. 

That was enough to trigger a total Elon Musk meltdown. The CEO, who has been going off on diatribes about civil liberties on conference calls and podcasts alike, Tweeted out on Saturday that he is going to be suing Alameda County for not allowing him to re-open.

Frankly, this is the final straw. Tesla will now move its HQ and future programs to Texas/Nevada immediately. If we even retain Fremont manufacturing activity at all, it will be dependen on how Tesla is treated in the future. Tesla is the last carmaker left in CA.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 9, 2020

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Calling it the “final straw” Musk also said he was going to move Tesla’s headquarters out of California and to either Texas or Nevada.

Musk also called the county’s interim health officer “ignorant”, claiming she was acting “contrary to the Governor, the President, our Constitutional freedoms & just plain common sense!”

Most importantly, however, she is acting against the interest of Elon Musk and Tesla. 

People on social media weighed in about Musk’s meltdown:

Full meltdown by Elon Musk.

TSLAQ should give credit to Dr. Erica Pan of Alameda Public Health for standing up to Musk and enforcing civil and health code that the citizens of Alameda entrusted her with.

Bravo Dr Pan. It only takes one person.@lorakolodny @danahull

— Tesla Prophet (@ProphetTesla) May 9, 2020

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It’s a miracle!

Fraud-Boy finally ran into a government official who’s faithful to their spouse and doesn’t care about recreational drugs or money!

— Mark B. Spiegel (@markbspiegel) May 9, 2020

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How long before Musk caves and moves to China https://t.co/GObWrxeT3Q

— Quoth the Raven (@QTRResearch) May 9, 2020

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Recall, on Tesla’s recent earnings call, toward the end and increasingly angry, Musk unleashed a 5-minute rant complete with an f-bomb in which the CEO doubled down on his stance against the shelter-in-place orders that have gripped the United States economy in recent weeks, warning that the factory shutdowns are a “serious risk” to the electric automaker’s business. 

Hey, thanks for all the tax breaks and subsidies, California, see you later!