Elon Musk slams ‘fascist’ coronavirus lockdowns in Tesla earnings call

From this New York Post article in April, 2020.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday blasted the coronavirus lockdowns that have shut down life in the United States, calling public officials’ directives to stay home “fascist.”

During an earnings call that had the electric automaker’s stock soaring on a surprise quarterly profit, Musk described California’s ongoing shelter-in-place order — which requires people to stay home unless they work at a business that provides essential services — as “forcible imprisoning” that had robbed Americans of “their constitutional rights.”

“It’s breaking people’s freedoms in ways that are horrible and wrong and not why they came to America or built this country,” Musk said. “What the f–k? Excuse me. Outrage.”

“If somebody wants to stay in their house, that’s great,” Musk said. “But saying they can’t leave their house and that they will be arrested if they do — that’s fascist.”

He raged that the lockdowns will cause “great harm” to many companies, and that not all companies will be able to weather an extended shutdown as well as Tesla.

“Give people their freedom back!” he wrote in sharing a Sunday op-ed in the Wall Street Journal arguing that severe shutdowns have not helped save many lives.