No single person has spent more money to harm EVs than Tesla CEO Elon Musk — SkimNews
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- Elon Musk has spent $366 million on anti-EV political campaigns during the 2026 midterms, with $276 million of that in just the last three months — surpassing the $288 million he spent during the entire 2024 election cycle.
- Tesla itself has asked Musk to stop the political spending and acknowledged in quarterly reports and government filings that his activities cost the company billions in lost revenue, yet his spending has accelerated since those losses were disclosed.
- The Republican Party is openly anti-EV, with Republican candidates opposing electric vehicles, causing U.S. job losses and making EV charging harder — a stance Musk has financially backed almost exclusively since 2024.
- Tesla is the only EV brand with a negative public perception, directly correlated to Musk's political activity, with lost business in Canada, Australia, Germany, and Denmark, plus falling sales, protests, and embarrassed owners in most territories.
- Musk publicly claimed Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico was in an Ohio mental hospital while Talarico was visibly campaigning in Texas; Talarico is running against scandal-plagued incumbent Ken Paxton, who has been personally accommodating to Musk.
- Musk's actions have turned Tesla from a company that grew consistently since inception to one now fighting for profitability, while shareholders continue to approve his self-dealing despite broad retirement-account exposure to his companies.
Why it matters: Tesla has shifted from consistent growth to fighting for profitability, with the company itself documenting billions in lost revenue tied to Musk's $366 million in donations to Republicans who blocked renewable expansion. Shareholders rubber-stamping Musk's self-deals means retirement accounts with Tesla and SpaceX exposure keep funding his political agenda even as his own company pays the price.
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