‘No one elected Elon’ group protests Musk, DOGE in front of Charlotte Tesla dealership
Dozens of protesters stood on a sidewalk outside the Tesla dealership in Matthews on Friday, most carrying signs with a message: Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency have got to go.
Jane Hodapp, who has lived in Matthews since 1987, said she was motivated to join the protest because she thinks Musk has been given too much power with DOGE, pointing to the recent layoffs of thousands of federal workers under the direction of the billionaire Tesla CEO.
“I’m so scared and angry about what is happening in our country,” said Hodapp, a volunteer with Indivisible Charlotte, the group that organized the protest. “He’s not in touch with the human being.”
The group, which is a local branch of the national organization, stood on Independence Boulevard for two hours. Some drivers heckled the protesters, shouting expletives or voicing their support for President Donald Trump and Musk.
“We love you too,” one volunteer shouted after a man called them a profanity from his truck.
Other vehicles honked while driving by, or whooped and hollered to show support. One woman, who wasn’t with Indivisible Charlotte, showed up with a case of bottled water and joined the group, said Ava Williams, deputy director of the organization.
“The amount of outpouring of honks and cheers and thumbs up and claps … was heartening,” Williamson said.
Volunteers like Siobhan Ashbrook hope people who saw them protesting will feel inspired to join the group, and know they’re not alone.
“A lot of people feel the way we do, but they feel helpless and isolated,” Ashbrook said. “Seeing people protest is something that assures other people that they’re not alone in their feelings and their observations.”
Another volunteer, Vivian Brenner, said it also gives people a peaceful, constructive and fun way to channel their feelings about what is going on.
The group was specifically protesting Musk and DOGE because Musk wasn’t elected by voters to his position or confirmed by the U.S. Senate the way a Cabinet member is, and the cuts the government has made under his direction have been unconstitutional, Williamson said.
She raised concerns about the recent layoffs of nuclear weapons workers and the canceling of an Ebola prevention effort.
“They’re dismantling the infrastructure of our government that keeps us all safe,” Williamson said. “There’s no efficiency.”
Since Trump has taken office, workers laid off under the DOGE umbrella include U.S. Forest Service workers in Western North Carolina who were helping with the recovery from Hurricane Helene. Trump has tried to freeze federal funding for funding for other government programs and agencies.
The goal, Musk and Trump have said, is to scrutinize and reduce government spending, and reduce the federal workforce. Their efforts have resulted in lawsuits trying to stop their actions, and some laid-off federal workers have had their terminations rescinded.
The Ebola prevention effort was reinstated — although NPR reported experts disagree it has been fully restored — and the nuclear weapons workers had their terminations rescinded. Musk called both eliminations an accident.
But with federal employees being laid off in other departments, such as the Federal Aviation Administration and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which helps protect U.S. consumers from banking fraud, Williamson said many of the protesters are worried about their safety.
And while the group doesn’t have plans to protest at the dealership again, they’ll do whatever they can to have the most impact, she said.
Linda Meigs, another volunteer, made a point to show off the two small U.S. flags draped from her sign.
“We are proud Americans … The people own it,” she said. “No one can take that from us.”
