U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Sunday that Rep. Jasmine Crockett should “tread carefully” when voicing her opposition to Elon Musk and Tesla.
Ms. Bondi said the Texas Democrat has called for “attacks on Elon Musk” to protest his role in cutting government spending as part of the Department of Government Efficiency.
“She is an elected public official, so she needs to tread very carefully because nothing will happen to Elon Musk and we are going to fight to protect all of the Tesla owners throughout this country,” Ms. Bondi said on Fox News Channel.
Ms. Crockett snapped back on MSNBC, saying Ms. Bondi was twisting her words and that she has never promoted violence.
In a “Tesla Takedown” conference call last week, Ms. Crockett, who sits on the House Department of Government Efficiency Subcommittee, said all she wanted on her March 29 birthday was “for Elon to be taken down.”
Ms. Crockett also said she was not seeking to incite violence.
“The things that we’re fighting for — we are fighting for our country, we are fighting for democracy, we’re fighting for our freedom — and when I say fighting, I am saying that figuratively,” she said. “Everything that I am promoting is nonviolent and so definitely don’t want anyone to take that word literally in any way.”
Protesters across the nation have participated in the “Tesla Takedown” demonstrations outside the electric carmaker’s showrooms. A website dedicated to the effort calls for “A Peaceful Protest Movement” and urges voters to “Sell Your Teslas,” “Dump Your Stock, and “Stop Musk Now.”
“Hurting Tesla is stopping Musk,” the group’s website reads. “Stopping Musk will help save lives and our democracy.”
The group is planning a March 29 “Global Day of Protest.”
There also have been numerous instances of vandalism, including arson, against Tesla’s dealerships, its charging stations, and owners’ individual cars.
On Sunday, Ms. Crockett said Ms. Bondi was trying to scare her into silence and said the attorney general and President Trump have no standing to talk about political violence.
“Just in case the slow people listening decide to clip this up later, I just want to say that I have never promoted violence whatsoever. Yet, I also have never made an excuse for those violent actors, such as those on Jan. 6,” she said. “So Pam Bondi, if you have an issue with terrorism, maybe you should talk to your boss about locking back up those guys that he let out that participated in Jan. 6.”
Ms. Crockett also said she was happy to see Tesla’s stock had dropped, although it is widely held by pension funds on which many government and private retirement plans depend.
Meanwhile, Ms. Bondi said that three people charged in connection with arson incidents at Tesla car dealerships and charging stations face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
“Domestic terrorism is going to come to a stop in this country,” Ms. Bondi said.
