Minnesota Governor Tim Walz decided to make himself part of the story when, at a March 18, 2025 event in Wisconsin, he openly joked about watching Tesla’s stock slide and bragged that he added the ticker to his phone because it “gave me a little boost during the day.” The clip caught fire online because it wasn’t just a throwaway quip — it was a public official taking pleasure in the financial pain of a private company and its shareholders.
Elon Musk didn’t stay silent. During a television interview days later he called Walz a “huge jerk” and condemned celebrating others’ losses as “evil,” reminding viewers that public leaders should not cheer market declines. Musk’s blunt response served as a wake-up call: the free market is not a political prop for left-wing theater.
What makes Walz’s little victory lap worse — and hypocritical — is that Minnesota’s own public pension fund holds a substantial stake in Tesla, meaning his fans cheering the stock’s collapse were effectively cheering harm to their neighbors’ retirement savings. Instead of owning up to the consequences of his remarks, Walz tried to wave it off as a joke and called critics too literal, a tone-deaf response that reveals the entitlement of a political class detached from the real people hurt by market volatility.
This episode exposes a darker trend: the politicization of the markets. Companies and CEOs become targets in political theater while governors and media figures treat share prices like scoreboards in a culture war. Americans who believe in capitalism and the dignity of productive Americans should be alarmed when public servants cheer the downfall of successful companies instead of defending workers and investors.
Musk also raised a sober point beyond the insult — attacks on Tesla and intimidation against customers have real-world consequences, from vandalism to threats against dealerships, which only worsen when politicians stoke public hostility. Pretending these are mere talking points for applause ignores that jobs, innovation, and public safety are collateral damage in a partisan feeding frenzy.
Conservatives should use this moment to stand firmly for free enterprise, call out performative cruelty from elected officials, and demand that governors focus on building prosperity rather than celebrating its setbacks. The American dream is built on risk and reward, not on celebrating when someone takes a hit, and voters ought to remember which leaders defend that dream and which relish its erosion.
