A crowd of about 40 gathered Saturday outside an Orlando Tesla showroom to protest company owner Elon Musk and his governmental initiative, DOGE, as part of a national movement dubbed Tesla Takedown. The emerging grassroots movement promotes a boycott of Tesla and decries the increasing number of government spending and federal job cuts initiated by Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” under the Trump administration.
DOGE is, ostensibly, working to cut federal waste, but many condemn the widespread cuts. Tesla Takedown activists encourage Tesla shareholders to abandon the company, as a protest of DOGE’s actions.
“Take action at Tesla showrooms everywhere,” Tesla Takedown’s website reads. “Sell your Teslas, dump your stock, join the picket lines. Hurting Tesla is stopping Musk.”
The movement comes as DOGE and the Trump administration target public spending and services, which has produced sweeping federal workplace firings across the country. The Education Department, Energy Department, National Park Service, Department of Health and Human Services, Agriculture Department and more have been affected. The Musk-led initiative has laid off thousands of federal workers since its inception.
Saturday’s protest in Orlando, hosted by Orlando for Peace on what happened to also be International Women’s Day, saw locals ranging in age stationed outside the Tesla dealership at 2214 John Young Parkway with signs, flags and fervor for the maintenance of democracy.
The crowd also demonstrated on the side of the busy John Young Parkway, where it was met with both car horn honks of solidarity, oppositional shouts — and the occasional Tesla Cybertruck drive-by.
Orlando organizers and activists highlighted concern over recent moves made by both Trump and Musk such as the freeze of USAID, cancellation of DEI programs and grants, DOGE’s access to U.S. Treasury data and cuts to medical and scientific research, among other efforts to target social institutions and public services.
Corey Hill, an organizer with Orlando for Peace, says one of the main aims of the movement is to drive a decrease in Tesla’s share price, thus targeting a major source of Musk’s personal wealth.
He said Saturday’s protest was about taking a stance against Musk’s federal governmental decisions, as a billionaire and an unelected adviser to the president, are affecting individual Americans.
“These are our social security checks that we all paid for that are going to stop coming,” he said. “These are our tsunami warning centers that make sure we’re not hit by a wave while we’re eating breakfast. These are things that impact every single person in this country in their daily lives.”
“It’s never been about fraud, waste,” Hill said.
DOGE’s efforts have gained wide disdain, including from a group of DOGE staffers who resigned in February. The 21 former employees stated in a public join letter that they refused to help put Americans’ information at risk and “dismantle critical public services,” according to NPR.
Other attendees of Saturday’s protest expressed a desire to help spread awareness about Trump-led and Musk-fueled governmental changes. Deepshika Bijjula only recently moved to Orlando, but has followed the national Tesla Takedown movement and had been waiting for a local event to come together.
“A lot of what’s happening right now in the government with Donald Trump and Elon Musk, people don’t know about,” Bijjula said.
Others in attendance were largely focused on addressing overarching threats of tyranny and oppression. Attendee Bud Willie, 72, emphasized the importance he sees in maintaining outward action against Musk.
“Eighty-one years ago, my father hit the beaches on Normandy at the age of 19 in order to fight the kind of stuff that’s going on in our country right now,” Willie said. “And it’s embarrassing.”
The Tesla Takedown movement has seen local action in cities across the U.S. in the past two days, including in Chicago and Portland, Oregon, and across Florida in Delray Beach, Fort Myers and Orlando.
