Tesla dealership attacks are happening for one reason: Trump normalized political violence.

This is 100% on Trump

The entire Trump regime is hysterically flooding the media to defend Donald Trump’s top donor, Elon Musk in response to isolated acts of vandalism directed at Tesla dealerships. Trump on Monday called the people “terrorists” who engaged in these acts of apparent political violence. Trump regime Attorney General Pam Bondi warned that those involved will be swiftly prosecuted. And Trump regime FBI Director Kash Patel has created an entire FBI task force to hunt down these “terrorists.”

Of course, Trump now calling people who attacked a Tesla a “terrorist” is beyond laughable given he called people who waged the Jan. 6 terrorist attack: “patriots.” And Trump’s current FBI director called the Jan. 6 terrorists “political prisoners.”

However, assuming the acts of violence at various Tesla dealership are politically motivated in response to Trump/Musk gutting programs that are a lifeline to our veterans, seniors and the disabled community, there is one person to blame for these attacks. And that is Donald Trump.

Trump’s embrace of political violence that began when he was a candidate in 2016 through his Jan. 6 attack and pardon of the J6 terrorists, signaled to the nation that political violence is an acceptable weapon. And now the chickens are coming home to roost.

As a presidential candidate in 2016, Trump repeatedly called for his supporters to engage in violence at his rallies. Just one example included Trump urging supporters to punch protesters in the face, vowing “I will pay for the legal fees.” In his first term, he repeatedly defended his supporters who committed violence including those MAGAs who fired paint pellets at protesters in Portland.

And that brings us to the Jan. 6 act of “domestic terrorism”—as DOJ/FBI designated the attack. No American president had ever incited an act of violence against our Capitol designed to remain in power despite losing an election. In fact, U.S. Presidents had universally condemned political violence.

But Trump changed all that with his Jan. 6 attack, as he signaled to the nation that violence was acceptable if on his behalf. As the Jan 6 House committee’s final report put it: “The central cause of January 6th was one man, former President Donald Trump, whom many others followed. None of the events of January 6th would have happened without him.” Backing that up were findings by CREW that more than 200 of the Jan 6. Defendants cited Trump’s incitement in court filings and in their cases as the reason they headed to Washington, D.C. and engaged in the attack.

We all saw the MAGAs attack the capitol wearing Trump “uniforms” and brutally beating police officers. As Matthew Graves, the U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C. put it in 2024, Jan. 6 was “likely the largest single-day, mass assault of law enforcement officers in our nation’s history.”

How did Trump respond?! He publicly praised the people who waged this act of “domestic terrorism” calling them “unbelievable patriots,” “warriors” and “hostages” who were being treated “unfairly.” Trump personally raised money for the Jan. 6 attackers—even welcoming them to hold events at his country club in New Jersey.

And Trump often began his campaign rallies with a song co-produced by current FBI Director Kash Patel that featured Jan. 6 terrorists known as the “J6 Prison Choir.” Trump would walk out at the start of the rally to the announcement, “Ladies and gentlemen, please rise for the horribly and unfairly treated January 6th hostages." While the song played, Trump would salute, often saying afterwards how impressed he was with the “spirit from the hostages" who were American “patriots.”

To make it worse—if that’s possible--Trump also despicably demonized the police, FBI and federal prosecutors for seeking to hold his supporters accountable for their violence.

And on the first day he was sworn in, convicted felon Trump pardoned every one of the Jan. 6 prisoners—including those convicted or had plead guilty to brutally beating up police officers on Trump’s behalf. The message was clear: If you waged political attacks on Trump’s behalf, he will protect you.

Trump’s conduct had long been raising red flags by experts on political violence. Authoritarian expert Ruth Ben-Ghiat explained to me in March 2024 that Trump like other fascist leaders was trying “to change the perception of violence. To get people to see that violence is not negative.” She added, Trump was conditioning his supporters to believe that. “Violence is sometimes morally necessary and even righteous, and even patriotic.”

That point was echoed by Tim Heaphy –the chief investigative counsel for the House Jan. 6 committee and a former U.S. Attorney. Heaphy explained in our interview in early January that Trump was “the head conspirator who put in motion a series of legal steps that ultimately culminated in storming the Capitol.” Heaphy noted that the fact Trump himself was not held accountable could incite more people to engage in political violence since Trump’s actions were so brazen. He then shared his concern like Ben-Ghiat that pardoning the attackers would also incentivize future political violence.

The focus of both Ben-Ghiat and Heaphy, though, were that Trump supporters would commit violence in the future. But the reality is that once political violence has been weaponized on a national level like Trump did, it infects others.

There is a frustration many feel as they see Trump escape any punishment for his Jan. 6 attack and then pardon the terrorists who helped him. That injustice and anger ends up manifesting in various ways—one being the attacks on Tesla dealerships. These people are simply employing the same weapon Trump did: Violence.

And in the midst of Trump and his regime screaming about “terrorists” attacking Tesla dealerships, not a peep out of them about a self-professed Trump supporter intentionally committing an act of political terrorism on Saturday by driving his car into peaceful protesters. Andrew Tutil, 44, a retired U.S. Army captain, intentionally drove his car—slowly but deliberately—into approximately 150 protesters, mainly senior citizens, outside the West Palm Beach Tesla dealership. This MAGA terrorist was arrested and charged by local authorities with first-degree felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent. But again, Trump is silent because as we know he supports political violence by his supporters on his behalf.

To be clear: There is no place for political violence in the United States. And if Trump had been swiftly held accountable for his role in the Jan 6 attack and not praised/pardoned the Jan 6 attackers, that message would’ve been sent nationwide. Instead, Trump has wielded political violence as a tool since he first ran for office in 2016 through today and demonized those in law enforcement who sought to hold him and his supporters accountable.

That is why every politically motivated attack on a Tesla dealership is directly linked to Trump. This is the climate Trump has created. So if you are looking to blame anyone for the attacks on Tesla dealerships, that person is Trump.

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