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Elon Musk said he took the backlash against his electric automaker Tesla personally, though he declined to say he regretted the political activity that sparked the “massive violence”.
There were largely peaceful protests against Tesla and Musk around the world in response to his spearheading of federal spending cuts in the U.S. and promoting of far-right parties in Europe.
But there were a number of high-profile violent attacks, too, where Tesla vehicles, showrooms, and service centers were the target of vandalism, including arson.
Musk was asked if the Tesla backlash made him regret or have second thoughts about his political endeavors, in a virtual interview at the Qatar Economic Forum on Tuesday.
“I did what needed to be done,” Musk said, criticizing what he called the “violent, antibody reaction” to his political work.
“I’m not somebody who has ever committed violence. And yet, massive violence was committed against my companies, and massive violence was threatened against me.
“Who are these people? Why would they do that? How wrong can they be?
“They’re on the wrong side of history. And that’s an evil thing to do. To go and damage some poor innocent person’s car. To threaten to kill me. What’s wrong with these people? I’ve not harmed anyone.”
Musk added: “So, something needs to be done about them. And a number of them are going to prison. And they deserve it. And more will. Those people will go to prison, and the people that funded them and organized them will also go to prison.”
He closed with a warning, pointing his finger at the camera: “Don’t worry, we’re coming for you.”
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