While conservatives are rallying around Tesla, liberals are surprisingly distanced from Elon Musk's electric vehicles (EVs) in a surprising way for businesses whose fate is deeply tied to sustainability and climate politics.
Republicans who have long avoided moving away from electric vehicles and fossil fuels have come to defend Tesla in the face of financially struggling and attacks that have led to mask work with the Trump administration.
Meanwhile, liberals in the US and European buyers have elicited complaints about Musk and President Trump's policies by removing Teslas and boycotting the company. In some extreme cases, Tesla vehicles are destroyed and dealers are attacked.
“This is a bit of a Twilight Zone for Tesla,” said Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities.
In general, more Democrats buy EVs than Republicans. 2023 Gallup survey It turns out that 6% of Democrats, 4% of independents and 1% of Republicans own electric vehicles.
And only 1% of Republicans said they would seriously consider buying EVs in the future, compared to 12% of independents and 22% of Democrats.
On the campaign trail, electric vehicles have become something of a culture war issue for Trump and Republicans as they denounced Biden's pro-EV policies as an attack on consumer choices. His tone softens slightly as he and Musk approach him, but even as he has publicly accepted Tesla, Trump is still widely opposed to the policies of his predecessors.
Amidst the misery of Tesla, Trump publicly bought the Tesla earlier this month, praising the car from the White House perch.
His supporters have also made public his love for Musk's electric vehicles.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick encourages Americans to buy Tesla stocks on March 19th, touting “the best entrepreneurs, best technicians, best technicians, perhaps the best leaders of any American company working in America.”
“If you want to learn something from this show tonight, if you want to buy a Tesla,” Rutnick said. “I can't believe this guy's stock is this cheap. It's never going to be this cheap again.”
Fox News host and Trump's ally Sean Hannity revealed earlier this month what he had I bought a Tesla While promoting the sweepstakes to win one of the mask cars on his website.
“It seems like the best car ever invented. It's really, and I'm not just saying that,” Hannity said in an interview with Musk last week.
Rep. Virginia Fox (RN.C.) also posed for a Tesla in the photo “A pretty stylish car” and tagged masks posted on social media.
Despite the GOP support show, Tesla's brand has been suffering in recent weeks from its close relationship with Musk, as it has played a prominent and controversial role in an administration leading government efficiency (DOGE) efforts to significantly reduce government spending and federal workforce.
Tesla stock prices have plummeted, falling more than 40% since peaking in mid-December. The company has reduced its market value by more than $500 billion since the end of the year.
“Obviously, it has some advantages when it comes to new buyers and new supporters, but the reality is that for most musks and Tesla, he needs to balance Doge and Tesla CEOs.
March represents the highest level of trade in Tesla vehicles ever recorded on car shopping website Edmunds.
The site's total exchanges of 1.4% is Teslas, up from 0.4% a year ago. Meanwhile, Teslas' research activities on the website have also dropped to the lowest level.
But Edmunds' head of insights Jessica Caldwell pointed out that most Tesla owners are likely to still hold their cars for the time being, even if they don't like musks.
“Unlike switching between smartphone brands and streaming services, car exchanges are a major financial decision, and even the most disillusioned Tesla owners are likely to retain their vehicles from need,” Caldwell said in a statement.
At least one famous Democrat vowed to abandon his Tesla. Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) announced earlier this month that he would look for a new ride, saying he didn't want to drive a car “built and designed by A-Hole.” He later showed off his new Chevy Tahoe SUV.
“Every time I've got in this car in the last 60 days or so, it reminds me of how much Elon Musk and Donald Trump are doing to our country,” Kelly said in the video.
Other liberals have bought bumper stickers to buy bumper stickers, such as “I bought this before Elon went crazy” and “Anti-Elon Tesla Club.”
Sales of Tesla in Europe are also falling sharply. Data from the European Association of Automobile Manufacturers showed that Tesla sales fell 49% in Europe for the first two months of 2025.
Maxwell Schulman, research analyst at Beacon Policy Advisor, said:
“Something will have to seriously change to many people to rethink Tesla's abandonment now,” he continued. “And standing here, I can't fully see what it is. For many Democrats, I think Elon Musk has lost them forever as a client base.”
Despite his support for Trump and his allies Tesla, he said he may not promote more sales to conservatives, not to mention enough to cancel the losses among liberals.
“It appears Tesla is losing far more potential clients than it does to attract potential clients. …It's not always clear that Tesla's conservative embrace is actually translating Republicans going out and buying cars,” he said.
Stephanie Valdez Streaty, director of industry insights at Cox Automotive, said that due to traditional GOP opposition to EVS, he agreed that even if he views masks in a positive way, new Republican supporters could not offset the decline in sales.
“When you start to see something wider [EV] Adoption… People who care about the environment are more liberal,” Valdes Streety said.
Musk is polarised, but he said the data has not shown a “major” change in sales. And she said Tesla's fate could be driven by other challenges facing EVs as the Trump administration aims to be tax credits and infrastructure incentives created for the industry.
Tesla is one of many companies that will benefit from the expanded and expanded EV tax credits passed by Democrats and former President Biden in 2022. These credits could be in the chopping block under a Republican-led Congress and could raise prices for EVs, including Teslas.
Musk says he doesn't need credit and says Trump's anti-EV move could ultimately benefit Tesla by stifling his competitors.
Tesla is a leading US EV manufacturer that has surpassed its competitors by more than 40% of its market share last year.
Traditional automakers such as General Motors and Hyundai have been able to increase sales of EVs in recent years, but have fallen behind mask companies quite a bit. Many traditional automakers sell their vehicles at a lower price than Teslas.
Competitors focusing on EVs such as Rivian and Lucid mainly focus on premium products and make up less stocks in the market.
Tesla's Model Y and Model 3, Ford Mustang Mach-E, Honda Prologue, and Livian R1 were the country's top-selling EVs in February. According to Cox Automotive.
