On Friday, March 28, 2025, more than 300 people demonstrated outside the Tesla dealership in Libertyville in protest of Elon Musk and Donald Trump. The Lake County Democrats organized the demonstration.
Protest Details
The protest occurred from 4:30-5:30 pm at the Tesla dealership located at 1121 S. Milwaukee Ave., Libertyville, with demonstrators gathering on the sidewalk in front of the facility. This peaceful demonstration was held on the public parkway outside the dealership to protest “Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO and Donald Trump’s biggest campaign donor, and his troubling behavior as part of the Trump administration, as well as Donald Trump.” Participants were instructed not to block entrance to or enter Tesla property, or to harass customers or employees.
Organizer’s Statements
“More and more people are alarmed and outraged by Musk and Trump, whether it’s hurting veterans, threatening Social Security, or their other extreme right-wing antics,” said Lake County Democrats Chair Lauren Beth Gash. “Today’s demonstration sends the message loud and clear to Musk, Trump, and cowardly Republican politicians all over: what Musk and Trump are doing is not OK, and voters will not forget.”
Broader Context
This Libertyville protest joins “a wave of similar protests across the country” criticizing the new administration and “the outsized influence the world’s richest man has had on the federal government.” Musk is “seemingly the functional leader of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency and has become a focal point of criticism as DOGE cuts federal staff and contracts.”
During a previous protest at the same location, Gash stated, “Elon Musk paid to own Donald Trump, who promised to bring down prices on day one, and now people are paying even more.”
Previous Protests
The March 28 demonstration wasn’t the first at this location. Hundreds of protesters have previously lined up in front of the Libertyville Tesla dealership to protest Musk and Trump. “Similar protests against Musk have sprouted up at Tesla dealerships across the country.” During a Saturday protest in February, “a small group of conservative counter-protesters were stationed just a dozen yards away, and the two groups traded barbs and insults.”
While protest organizers have stated that their criticisms are not directed toward the electric vehicle manufacturer itself, “the dealerships provide an obvious and convenient gathering point to criticize the billionaire, who leads the company and is its single largest individual shareholder.”
Impact on Tesla Brand
The Tesla brand’s connection to Musk has grown increasingly “problematic,” according to Jacqueline Babb, senior lecturer of integrated marketing communications at Northwestern University. Babb, a Tesla owner herself who considers it a “phenomenal” product, noted, “But I do have concerns about the type of message that I send by driving it. As consumers, we surround ourselves with consumer brands, and they tell a story of who we are and how we’re seen in the world. Your car does tell a story about who you are.” When brands “become synonymous with a person,” like with Tesla, it “becomes less about the product” and “more about this person.” In this case, a “potentially polarizing” one.
One former Tesla owner and board member of the Tesla Owners Club of Chicago expressed that “What Elon has done to the brand is just make it feel dirty.” She described selling her Tesla as “bittersweet” but said she “couldn’t keep it anymore” because she’d “get in every day and have those horrible feelings about, ‘Why am I driving this car,’ and thinking that something horrible is going to go wrong and I’m going to be left with a piece of junk.” Since selling it, she said she “couldn’t be happier” after events in January and February.
The March 28 demonstration appears to be part of ongoing organized opposition to Musk’s role in the Trump administration and his influence on government policy.
