CNN Host Blasts Daily Show Cheers for ‘Domestic Terrorism’ Against Tesla: ‘Reminds Me’ Of Those Who Cheered United CEO Murder

CNN host Michael Smerconish slammed celebratory liberal reactions to violent acts being committed at Tesla locations and against individual Tesla owners in the name of objecting to CEO Elon Musk, comparing the cheers to the tasteless praise for Luigi Mangione, charged in the point-blank murder of UnitedHealthcare Brian Thompson last year.

Earlier in the week, a segment on The Daily Show covering the string of angry protests and violent attacks on Tesla vehicles, charging locations, and properties across the country, and each mention of an act of violence was met with cheers and applause by the show’s audience that even host Jordan Klepper felt compelled to mention.

Smerconish brought up that ghoulish reaction in his commentary on Saturday’s Smerconish on CNN.

The host began by outlining some of the background before playing the clip, which ended with Klepper saying to the crowd, “Wow, you guys like petty acts of domestic terrorism, huh?”

“The crowd’s reaction reminds me of those who cheered for Luigi Mangione after he was charged for the murder of a healthcare executive,” Smerconish said. The cheering at the time included one very specific parallel in the crowd reaction during an episode of Saturday Night Live. However, unlike SNL, The Daily Show hasn’t taken much heat for the Tesla domestic terror cheering.

Smerconish continued, showing a clip of former vice presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz mocking Tesla, which the Democrat has since tried to walk back. And Smerconish said he was surprised at how many of his own SiriusXM listeners have been “eager to rationalize all the violence.”

SMERCONISH: An innocent electric car, once the symbol of proud progressives trying to save the planet, has become the focus of misplaced hate. The fight that they’ve got is with Tesla Motors owner Elon Musk and his Department of Government efficiency, which they claim is dismantling government, and that’s a nice way of putting it. Sometimes they call it a coup and Musk a Nazi.

Next Saturday, on March 29, protesters around the world will participate in a Tesla takedown with 500 demonstrations at Tesla showrooms. As one Instagram post has it: “Let’s send these techno-fascist, bro-ligarchs, and old-fashioned Nazis a message loud and clear.”

Harsh words, if only it remained just words. Unfortunately, some anti-Muskers believe actions speak louder. And so, around the world, people are attacking Teslas. They’ve defaced them, they’ve shot at them, they’ve even thrown Molotov cocktails at them, proving that gasoline and Teslas don’t mix. And sorry if you thought that joke was in bad taste, but at least I’m laughing with Tesla, not the attackers.

Contrast that with the Daily Show audience.

[DAILY SHOW CLIPS]
KLEPPER (CLIP): Wow, you guys like pediacs of domestic terrorism, huh?

SMERCONISH: The crowd’s reaction reminds me of those who cheered for Luigi Mangione after he was charged for the murder of a healthcare executive. Likely due at least in part to Musk’s unpopularity, the value of Tesla Motors has plummeted, sales have slumped. Some are cheering the decline.

WALZ (CLIP): They’ve got that little stock app. I added Tesla to it to give me a little boost during the day. 225 and dropping.

SMERCONISH: Others are calling on Musk to step down as CEO. This is a lot more than a business story. The question becomes, what do you do about the perpetrators? And discussing it at my SiriusXM radio program this week, I was surprised at the number of my callers eager to rationalize all the violence.

But the FBI certainly isn’t doing that. They issued a PSA warning the public to be on the lookout for various indicators that could be precursors to planed attacks.

The Trump administration is also taking it seriously. Attorney General Pam Bondi called the attacks nothing short of domestic terrorism. She’s already charged three individuals with Tesla-related violence. According to the DOJ, one man, while armed with an AR-15 rifle, threw approximately eight Molotov cocktails at a dealership in Salem, Oregon.

A woman in Loveland, Colorado, tried to light Teslas on fire with Molotov cocktails and was later found with materials that could produce more incendiary weapons.

A man in Charleston, South Carolina wrote profane messages against President Trump at Tesla charging stations before lighting the stations on fire with Molotov cocktails.

Watch the clip above via CNN.