'Give People Back Their Goddamn Freedom': Elon Musk Calls Stay-At-Home Orders 'Fascist'

01:58 GMT, 30 April 2020

Musk also expressed concerns that due to the quarantine measures, he is not able to resume production at Tesla's vehicle factory in Fremont, California, where most of the company's cars are made.

Sputnik

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.

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.

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.