Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Wednesday that Congress will investigate attacks against Tesla vehicles and their owners as Elon Musk’s flagship electric vehicle company faces mounting backlash over its CEO’s controversial role in the Trump administration’s cost-cutting initiatives.
Johnson described Musk’s efforts as “heroic” in a post on social platform X, which is also owned by the tech billionaire, and claimed without evidence that the “radical Left” is behind the attacks against Tesla.
“The heroic work of @elonmusk has so panicked the radical Left that they’re now calling him ‘racist’(?!) and engaging in domestic terrorism to attack Tesla owners and their vehicles!” Johnson wrote, sharing a clip of his appearance on Fox News’s “Outnumbered” defending Musk.
“Congress will investigate the sources of these attacks and help the DOJ [Department of Justice] & FBI ensure those responsible are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” he added.
Musk responded to Johnson’s post with his own thanking him and including American flag and saluting emoji.
The Hill has reached out to Johnson’s office for more information.
The announcement comes a day after President Trump doubled down on his support for Musk, announcing he would purchase his own Tesla vehicle to “make a statement.”
Multiple Teslas were parked outside the White House on Tuesday, and the president surveyed the different vehicles after delivering remarks alongside Musk and his son.
“I’m going to buy because number one, it’s a great product. As good as it gets. Number two, because this man [Elon Musk] has devoted his energy and his life to doing this, and I think he has been treated unfairly,” Trump told reporters outside the White House in the afternoon.
Tesla’s stock has plummeted more than 50 percent since late last year, and it suffered its largest drop in more than four years on Monday. It follows a string of protests at Tesla warehouses across the country from demonstrators calling out Musk’s leadership of the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and the mass layoffs and spending cuts associated with it.
Some Tesla vehicles have been vandalized on the streets, while some Tesla owners have put bumper stickers displaying messages like “I bought it before Elon went nuts.”
Trump floated the idea of labeling violence at Tesla dealerships as domestic terrorism.
“I will do that, I’ll do it. I’m going to stop them,” Trump said Tuesday when asked about some of the suggestions that individuals carrying out violence should be labeled as domestic terrorists.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency, echoed calls for an investigation into attacks on Tesla and suggested without offering evidence that Democrats could be behind the attacks.
“Attacks on Tesla must be investigated as domestic terrorism!” Greene wrote Wednesday. “Today, my @DOGECommittee colleagues and I sent a letter to @AGPamBondi and @FBIDirectorKash asking for an investigation into the wave of organized attacks targeting @elonmusk, @Tesla, and the @DOGE effort.”
“Who is behind it? Who is funding it? Is there a link with Democrat-leaning NGOs? We look forward to exposing these terrorists and bringing them to justice!” she added.
