Musk’s Trump Alliance Backfires: Tesla Loses Core Customer Base to Political Positioning

Elon Musk’s high-profile role in the Trump administration is creating a political nightmare for Tesla, according to branding expert Scott Galloway. Speaking on the Pivot podcast, Galloway explained how Musk’s political gamble has spectacularly backfired, describing it as “one of the greatest brand destructions” in modern business history. The Tesla CEO’s embrace of a political constituency that shows little interest in electric vehicles has created a fundamental mismatch between brand and audience. Meanwhile, the eco-conscious consumers who built Tesla’s early success are turning away in droves. This political miscalculation has real consequences, with Tesla’s brand ranking collapsing from 8th to 95th place and European sales showing troubling declines. Musk’s recent decision to step back from his Department of Government Efficiency role suggests he may be recognizing the damage to his primary business.