More than 10,000 protesters gathered in New York City on Presidents’ Day to talk out in opposition to the present Trump administration and the actions specifically of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
It was one in all a number of protests that passed off Monday in main cities throughout the nation and got here throughout the identical lengthy weekend that smaller protests sprouted up at Tesla dealerships throughout the nation.
Protesters who spoke to TechCrunch from Washington Square Park, raised issues about DOGE’s entry to delicate knowledge of hundreds of thousands of Americans and the group’s dismantling of federal businesses. They stated that they view Musk’s work with DOGE as a veiled try at a monetary energy seize, and expressed frustration that Musk, an unelected official, has gained unprecedented ranges of energy over the federal authorities.
“I believe it’s extraordinarily harmful that [Musk] has entry to our private knowledge,” Dmitri, 53, an architect who requested that his final title not be used, advised TechCrunch. “He’s sort of a futurist fanboy who’s mainly residing in a sci-fi fantasy and attempting to implement that, and has the sources to do mass quantities of harm. He’s tinkering with one thing that he doesn’t have the power to truly perceive.”
A 55-year-old retired instructor who recognized himself solely as Tom and who held an indication that learn: “No one voted for Musk,” advised TechCrunch, “As a lot as I dislike the truth that a big variety of Americans voted for Trump, it’s completely the case that nobody voted for Musk.”
Tom famous that he didn’t imagine the typical MAGA supporter voted for Musk and frightened that DOGE’s cuts would harm Americans on a state, native, and particular person stage.
“The consolidation of energy beneath billionaires is a daunting factor,” he stated.
Trump signed an govt order on his first day in workplace to create DOGE, giving Musk, the billionaire proprietor of SpaceX, Tesla, X, and different firms, the reins to root out authorities fraud, waste, and abuse of taxpayer {dollars}.
Since then, DOGE has fired almost 10,000 federal employees who dealt with every little thing from managing federal lands to caring for navy veterans. Another 75,000 employees have accepted the Trump administration’s buyout proposal, which in late January provided federal employees eight months pay and advantages to depart their posts in the event that they resigned in early February. DOGE has additionally minimize 104 authorities contracts associated to variety, fairness, inclusion, and accessibility applications and dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Trump additionally granted Musk’s DOGE staff entry to the Treasury division’s digital funds system, which controls trillions of {dollars} in funds to Americans, from Social Security advantages to tax refunds, regardless of questions on their safety clearances, their cybersecurity practices, and the legality of Musk’s actions.
Supporters of Trump and Musk applaud their on-paper efforts to root out corruption, inefficiency, and purple tape. Opponents object to the way in which DOGE goes about its acknowledged objectives, and warn that the staff’s actions will result in extra corruption and nationwide safety dangers.
A wave of authorized challenges has adopted that allege an absence of transparency and knowledge privateness violations.
The protesters in New York began at Union Square and marched to Washington Square Park, congregating beneath the enduring memorial arch devoted to George Washington, the nation’s first president. They chanted “Hey, hey, ho, ho, Elon Musk has obtained to go,” and held indicators that touted a spread of causes, however Musk and DOGE had been a standard theme all through.
The New York Police Department estimated the variety of attendees to be greater than 10,000.
Victoria, who recognized herself as a 37-year-old instructor, held an indication that learn: “Stop the coup,” echoing feedback made to The Guardian on Monday by Arizona’s lawyer common, Kris Mayes, who advised advised the outlet, “In the U.S., we attraction rulings we disagree with – we don’t ignore court docket orders or threaten judges with impeachment simply because we don’t like the choice. This is a coup, plain and easy.”
“This will not be about us disagreeing with Republican insurance policies,” stated Victoria, bundled up in opposition to the chilly winds whipping by means of town, the place although sunny, temperatures hovered round 32 levels Fahrenheit. “It’s the truth that Trump has handed over the facility of the purse to Elon Musk, who’s unelected.”
As individuals performed music and shouted chants, their home made indicators raised over their heads, a 39-year-old small enterprise proprietor who recognized himself as Corwin stated of Musk, “he’s so conflicted and it’s so clear that his antiregulatory attitudes profit him personally and financially.”
Musk has focused a number of businesses for discount or dismantling that regulates industries during which his firms function. Earlier this month, Musk stated he needs to get rid of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which might regulate X’s deliberate growth to monetary providers, posting on his social community X “CFBP RIP,” punctuated with a tombstone emoji. He has acknowledged an intention to go after the Federal Aviation Administration, an company he’s clashed with earlier than and one which regulates SpaceX. He has additionally referred to as for ending a rule that requires automakers to report crashes when autonomous driving expertise is engaged.
Musk’s actions on the federal stage have affected Tesla’s model picture. During the automaker’s 2024 fourth-quarter earnings, analyst Thomas Monteiro of Investing.com famous that the hype round Tesla is trending downward as a result of, amongst different issues, “extreme model devaluation.”
Stories are cropping up of individuals promoting their Teslas out of a need to not assist Musk’s companies. Some Cybertruck house owners have reported situations of vandalism and harassment. The automaker’s gross sales, which had been already starting to endure as a result of elevated competitors out there and a stale lineup, have begun to plummet in Europe after a gesture by Musk, on the president’s inauguration, was seen by many as a Nazi salute. Poland’s sports activities and tourism minister Slawomir Nitras lobbied for a Tesla boycott, and in Germany, a number of firms have minimize ties with Tesla in response to Musk’s assist each for Trump and the far-right political occasion Alternative for Germany (AfD).
