--- title: "Obama Advisor Calls for Tesla Boycott After Elon Musk’s Appalling Trump Endorsement" description: "A longtime Democratic presidential advisor is calling for a Tesla boycott after Elon Musk's endorsement of Donald Trump for president." date: "2024-07-25" modified: "2024-07-25" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/obama-advisor-tesla-boycott-trump" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "Tesla" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "donald trump" - "elon musk" - "tesla" - "the digest" --- # Obama Advisor Calls for Tesla Boycott After Elon Musk’s Appalling Trump Endorsement ![A longtime Democratic presidential advisor is calling for a Tesla boycott after Elon Musk's endorsement of Donald Trump for president.]() *\Image: Anna Moneymaker via Getty / Futurism\* ## Loud Silence A longtime Democratic presidential advisor is calling for a Tesla boycott after [Elon Musk's endorsement of Donald Trump]() for president. In an [editorial for *The Guardian*](), economist Robert Reich — a [former advisor]() to president Barack Obama and secretary of labor under Bill Clinton — argued that "wealth is most dangerous when transformed into political power" and that the best response to Musk's is to take some of that money away from him. Indeed, the "silent boycott" of Tesla among liberals, as the [sustainable business blog *Triple Pundit* calls it](), may soon get louder. As [analysts noted]() in the wake of Musk's endorsement and alleged donation pledges to Trump — among other appalling behavior like publicly deadnaming his trans daughter — a proper [boycott has long loomed]() over [Musk's increasingly far-right politicking](). While Musk's [Trump endorsement itself]() was made in the public square of X-formerly-Twitter, [his alleged donations to a political action committee]() set up to re-elect Trump remain hazier — and as Reich suggests, that opacity is by design. ## Big Spenders Reich knows a thing or two about the [pitfalls of money in politics](). To his mind, Musk's secretive political spending, as revealed in a [new investigation from the *New York Times*](), is the logical endpoint of shady campaigning that shields individual donors from disclosing how much they've given to their candidates of choice. That appears to be the case, Reich explained, with the South African-Canadian billionaire's donations to a political action committee set up specifically to support Trump, which has allowed both [candidate]() and [donor to obfuscate]() about how much money is being given. "We may never know how much Musk is plunking down for Trump because of Musk’s avowed distaste for groups whose donors must be legally disclosed," Reich wrote. "Musk prefers to wield his political power through dark money." However, buyers wield the power of the dollar — and they can, as Reich suggests, boycott Musk's companies. "Use your economic power," he advised. "Boycott Tesla and tell advertisers to boycott \[X-formerly-Twitter\]." **More on Musk's appalling politics:** [*Elon Musk Goes on Transphobic Tirade About His Trans Child*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()