Tesla CEO Elon Musk has slammed COVID-19 induced stay-at-home orders in the United States, calling them "fascist" and insisting they are violating rights provided in the Consitution, CNBC News reported on Wednesday.
"...to say that they cannot leave their house, and they will be arrested if they do, this is fascist. This is not democratic. This is not freedom. Give people back their goddamn freedom", Musk said during a phone call on Tesla's earnings in the first quarter of 2020.
Audio from the Tesla Q1 Earnings Call
— J (@FactsOverFeeIs) April 30, 2020
Musk: "Give people their god damn freedoms"#BREAKING #StayAtHomeOrder pic.twitter.com/TgvK386sRi
He then went on to say that the government was "imprisoning" people at home against their will, and while Tesla is facing the biggest losses, a lot of small businesses are going to suffer as well.
Here is the full transcription of Elon Musk's initial quote. The question from the analyst was about company liquidity at the end of April. pic.twitter.com/A90l99mfUz
— Ryan Mac 🙃 (@RMac18) April 30, 2020
In the Bay Area, where Tesla's Fremont factory is located, businesses considered non-essential have had to suspend work amid the COVID-19 outbreak in the country.
The United States has been most affected by the new coronavirus, both in terms of the number of cases and death toll. As of today, it has registered more than 1,038,000 COVID-19 infections and over 60,800 deaths from the disease, according to Johns Hopkins University.
