Tesla CEO Elon Musk lashed out against the government stay at home orders, calling them “fascist.” Using his most colorful language in an expletive-laced conversation on Tesla’s Q1 2020 earnings call, he condemned the orders. He said they are “forcibly imprisoning people in their homes against all their constitutional rights, but that’s my opinion, and breaking people’s freedoms in ways that are horrible.”
He added that not resuming production at Tesla’s Bay Area plant was a “serious risk.” [He needs to move it to Texas or some other free state.
Musk said the serious risk comes from his claim that Tesla produces most of its cars there in addition to its Shanghai-based plant. Tesla initially said the factory would remain open during shelter in place orders but the country said it could not be considered an essential business.
Six counties, including Alameda, where Tesla’s factory is located, recently extended their shelter-in-place orders through the end of May.
Musk also praised China for having a “much better” infrastructure than the U.S.
“This is the time to think about the future, and also to ask, is it right to infringe upon people’s rights as what is happening right now?” Musk said.
He does a lot of business in China and doesn’t seem to recognize how fascist they are.
“I think the people are going to be very angry about this and are very angry. It’s like somebody should be, if somebody wants to stay in the house that’s great, they should be allowed to stay in the house and they should not be compelled to leave. But to say that they cannot leave their house, and they will be arrested if they do, this is fascist. This is not democratic. This is not freedom. Give people back their goddamn freedom.”
However, China barred people into their homes and left them to die.
At another point, he said, “So the expansion of the shelter in place or as frankly I would call it forcibly imprisoning people in their homes, against all their constitutional rights, but that’s my opinion, and breaking people’s freedoms in ways that are horrible and wrong, and not why people came to America or built this country. What the f—. Excuse me. It’s outrage, it’s an outrage. It will cause great harm not just to Tesla, but to many companies. And while Tesla will weather the storm there are many small companies that will not,” he said.
The Bay Area’s orders do not say that people cannot leave their house, but do restrict non-essential businesses from staying open and ban large public gatherings, among other things.
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