--- title: "Tesla Defenders Describe How They Got “Hooked” On Elon Musk" description: "A new interview full of shocking admissions showcases the psyches and beliefs of some of Elon Musk's most dedicated Tesla fans." date: "2022-08-11" modified: "2022-08-11" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/tesla-elon-fans-hooked" categories: - "Advanced Transport" - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "Tesla" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "elon musk" - "fanboys" - "tesla" - "the digest" --- # Tesla Defenders Describe How They Got “Hooked” On Elon Musk ![A new interview full of shocking admissions showcases the psyches and beliefs of some of Elon Musk's most dedicated Tesla fans.]() *\Image: Getty Images/Futurism\* ## Fanning The Tesla fanboys are not OK — and now, some of them are admitting as much. In [interviews with *New York Magazine*](), two Elon Musk stans with relatively sizable Twitter followings were accidentally hilarious when describing the moments they became Tesla-pilled. "Elon tweeted my video — of my car parking itself in my garage — and it was the first time I really had a big tweet," neuropsychologist Earl Banning, a Musk superfan who's racked up [close to 90,000 Twitter followers]() in the Teslasphere, told *NY Mag*. "You know how you go to Vegas, hit the jackpot once, and you’re addicted? That’s how I got hooked." But just as Musk giveth, his detractors taketh away. After his self-parking video went viral, detractors reportedly began dogpiling Banning. His fellow Tesla fiend Kim Paquette, a flight attendant who also gained a sizable following from Musktweeting, calls them "Parking Lot Truthers." "They called themselves the Shorty Air Force — as in short seller — where they would use drones and say, 'See, Tesla can’t sell these cars, so they’re stashing them in these parking lots,'" Paquette claimed. "They had this whole conspiracy theory." ## Theoretically Speaking The duo went on to describe other purported conspiracies promoted by detractors, including some that they claim ran "Tesla death sites" full of misleading statistics about the electric vehicles' safety. They also admitted, though, that in more recent times that sort of flame warring has died down, even though they occasionally still jump into the muck for love of the game. The pair, who appear to know each other primarily online, also made another rare admission — that Musk "is not always on his best behavior, and some of Elon’s superfans will defend him at all cost, no matter what he says or does," as Paquette said. "In the beginning," Banning said, "maybe it was a little more of a cult mentality." You don't say! **READ MORE:** [Two members of Elon Musk’s Twitter army explain their decision to enlist]() \[*New York Magazine*\] **More on Elon:** *[Elon Musk Claims Tesla Will Roll Out Electric Semi Truck This Year]()* ## 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]()