Tech billionaire Elon Musk responded to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s (D) quip about celebrating the dip in Tesla stocks, calling the former vice presidential nominee a “huge jerk.”
During an interview with Fox News’s Bret Baier, Musk was asked about the market drop, recent vandalism at Tesla dealerships, and criticism of his work with President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
“Think it would help sales if dealerships are being firebombed? Of course not. And Tesla customers are being intimidated all over the country and all over Europe,” he told Baier. “Does that help Tesla?”
“I mean, you have Tim Walz, who’s a huge jerk, running on stage when the Tesla stock price has gone in half, and he was overjoyed,” Musk continued. “What an evil thing to do. What a creep, what a jerk.”
The Tesla CEO added, “Like, who derives joy from that?”
Earlier this month, during a town hall in Wisconsin, Walz said he boosts his mood by looking at the electric vehicle manufacturer’s stocks. He also used the time to criticize Musk, the sweeping workforce cuts and federal funding freezes issued by the Trump administration and DOGE in recent weeks.
“There’s this thing on my phone, I know some of you know this, on the iPhone. They’ve got that little stock app,” Walz said at the time. “I added Tesla to it to give me a little boost during the day.”
He later walked back the comments, contending that he was just being a “smarta–” and “making a joke.”
Still, Musk railed against the Minnesota Democrat, who has seemingly reemerged as a voice for the party after losing to Trump and Vice President Vance in November.
“And it was pointed out to him that actually, you know, the Minnesota state pension fund is a major investor in Tesla. But he didn’t care,” the tech mogul told Fox News. “He was so overjoyed by Tesla stock going down.”
“Does that sound like a good person to you? I don’t think so,” Musk said.
“Shark Tank” investor Kevin O’Leary also criticized Walz, calling the rhetoric “beyond stupid.”
The back-and-forth comes as the Trump administration has vowed to get to the bottom of recent Tesla vandalism, labeling the attacks as “domestic terrorism.” At least three people have already been charged, per the Justice Department.
Musk said he has faith in the president to “go after” the people pushing what he called lies about his EV company.
To show his support for his senior adviser, the president even purchased a Tesla earlier this month during a ceremony at the White House.
