On Sunday evening, music and chants of protest blared over a loudspeaker in front of the newly opened Tesla Diner on Santa Monica Boulevard and Orange Drive.
Shouted refrains, including “Hey-hey, ho-ho, Elon Musk has got to go” and “Tesla board, shame on you, you support a fascist coup,” were backed by the steady beat of a snare drum, accompanied by demonstrators on a cowbell and a safety whistle.
Flanked by about 80 protesters, a giant, inflatable-tube effigy of Elon Musk donned a “Dark MAGA” hat while heiling Hitler, in reference to the Tesla CEO’s infamous Nazi-style salute at the inauguration rally of President Donald Trump.
For members of the “Tesla Takedown” movement leading demonstrations on Saturday and Sunday, the recent opening of Tesla CEO Musk’s new diner in Hollywood fueled their frustration at the tech billionaire and Trump’s former right-hand man.
Many of the protest chants and signs from the weekend rallies referenced federal funding cuts to social security, healthcare, national parks, and education. Musk, who led the unofficial Department for Government Efficiency (DOGE) until his big public breakup with Trump in May, was responsible for slashing government funding and shuttering several key agencies providing a social safety net in the U.S.
Although Musk claimed that DOGE cuts helped minimize wasteful government spending, analysis by a nonpartisan research group estimates that DOGE’s actions will cost taxpayers $135 billion this fiscal year.
“We want people to be aware of how the taxpayers have been paying their hard-earned money into our government—only for oligarchs like Elon Musk to take that money, fund themselves, and create these things,” Victor Solis, an organizer with Tesla Takedown from Ventura County, told L.A. TACO.
“Elon is racist. He’s fascist,” one protester who wore a face mask told L.A. TACO. “What he did with DOGE is horrific, with the effects on my family, the effects on Medicare, the effects on education, and anything we can do to put a fucking dent in his business is what we’re here for.”
Several publications, including Eater L.A., initially gave favorable coverage to the Tesla Diner’s grand opening, food, and theme. Residents who live in the neighborhood are less thrilled.
According to Solis, who calls the restaurant “a monument to corporate greed and over-consumption,” nearby residents he’s spoken to have expressed frustration over the diner’s location.
“For the poor folks in these apartment buildings, it’s blocked their view," he said. "I’m talking to some folks that are right down here on Orange off of Santa Monica Boulevard, and I haven’t heard from anybody that is happy to have this thing in their neighborhood.”
As a steady stream of Tesla owners lined up down the block on Sunday evening, waiting for their turn to enter the 24-hour diner's parking lot, other drivers honked and yelled as they were blocked from accessing the rest of the street.
Additionally, massive, brightly-lit screens lining the parking lot cycled between Cybertruck commercials and, weirdly, episodes of 2 Broke Girls and Star Trek. Sandwiched between nearby apartment buildings, the harsh glow of the diner seems to exist with no regard for light pollution or its neighbors.
Meanwhile, Tesla Takedown plans to continue holding weekend rallies in the future. According to Solis, the group aims to give the community a sense of joy and hope.
“We know that this regime, and especially these oligarchs that have been supporting [the executive branch], they don’t seem to like joy,” he said. “When we bring out these inflatables and the music and the chanting, people seem to find hope, and if we can give folks a little bit of hope — a little bit of joy out of their day — then we feel we did a good job organizing that.”
