The war of words between President Donald Trump and his former advisor, Tesla Inc.’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) Elon Musk, reached new heights when the latter publicly backed a call to impeach the President and replace him with Vice President JD Vance.
What Happened: Amid the ongoing feud between two of the world’s most powerful individuals, right-wing commentator Ian Miles Cheong posted: “President vs Elon. Who wins? My money’s on Elon. Trump should be impeached and JD Vance should replace him.”
Musk replied with a “Yes” around 20 minutes later. Cheong’s post was accompanied by a screenshot of a post Musk made earlier, alleging that Trump’s name appears in the Epstein files.
Why It Matters: The fallout between the two men was triggered by Musk’s sharp criticism of Trump’s “big, beautiful bill”. The conflict escalated after Trump said he was “very surprised” and “very disappointed” in Musk’s comments. Musk pushed back, claiming he had helped Trump win in 2024 and accused him of “ingratitude.”
The trading of insults continued, with Musk posting: “Congress is spending America into bankruptcy!” and Trump stating, “I don’t mind Elon turning against me, but he should have done so months ago. This is one of the Greatest Bills ever presented to Congress.”
Trump and Musk also sparred over Musk’s EV mandate, with the former alleging that the removal of the mandate had caused Musk to go “CRAZY.”
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt reacted to the situation, saying: “This is an unfortunate episode from Elon, who is unhappy with the One Big Beautiful Bill because it does not include the policies he wanted.”
Tesla lost a staggering $152 billion in market value on Thursday, marking a record single-day decline. Despite the drop, the electric vehicle maker still carries a consensus price target of $299.60, based on assessments from 26 analysts.
Price Action: Tesla shares have dropped 24.50% so far this year. However, in Thursday’s after-hours trading, the stock edged up 0.77% to close at $286.90, according to Benzinga Pro.
Benzinga’s Edge Stock Rankings point to Tesla’s solid price momentum across short, medium, and long-term trends. More detailed performance insights can be found here.
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