Philly Democratic strategist has a Tesla destroyed to protest Musk and MAGA

Aggrieved Democrats with axes to grind and hammers to swing gathered in a gray-block garage in Holmesburg on Wednesday night to treat an Elon Musk-made Tesla like a piñata.

The event, sponsored by a Democratic political group based in Fishtown called FUBAR PAC, was held in Rage Philly, a so-called rage room where people spend $30 to $100 donning helmets, visors, and other protective gear to get medieval on objects they own.

It’s an endorphin-releasing, demon-chasing, please-don’t-stop-me experience where people’s personal Krakens get unleashed without someone getting hurt.

On Wednesday, FUBAR PAC executive director Jack Inacker, a Democratic strategist, former Air Force nuclear weapons specialist, and chair of the Philadelphia Veterans Caucus, welcomed around 25 people to the Tesla takedown.

“A strongly worded letter isn’t going to cut it against the Republicans,” Inacker told the crowd before the smashup. “The impacts that Musk, [President Donald] Trump, and others have are cutting Medicaid, gutting Social Security, and taking away nutrition lifelines to seniors and veterans.”

Inacker said his group has “declared war” on Trump’s MAGA (“Make America Great Again”) followers as well as on DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency that has been run by Musk, who, Inacker announced, was a “ketamine-snorting nepo baby,” powered by intergenerational wealth and little empathy for the underdog.

» READ MORE: Elon Musk campaigned relentlessly for Trump in Pennsylvania last year. Now the DOGE leader is the face of Democrats’ political pushback.

The PAC’s aim is to campaign heavily in Pennsylvania congressional districts to unseat as many Republicans as possible to win back the U.S. House of Representatives for the Democrats in 2026.

Musk’s involvement in DOGE has precipitated a steep drop in sales for his Tesla car company.

The Tesla has become the emblem of what people see as America’s undoing by Trump, said Mike Byrd, 38, an unemployed pediatric sciences researcher from Wilmington. He was covered in a white jumpsuit to protect himself from the car cracking to come.

“People are rightfully angry by all that DOGE has undone and taken from them,” Byrd said.

Then he picked up a sledgehammer and said, “That’s why I’ll be going for this Tesla’s glass or, hopefully, its logo.”

The Trump administration and congressional Republicans have defended DOGE, saying it has been vital in helping to weed out waste, fraud, and abuse in federal government.

“On Day One, President Trump established DOGE to streamline the Federal Government, eliminate unnecessary programs, and reduce bureaucratic inefficiency,” a White House fact sheet said. ”And President Trump eliminated unnecessary agencies and government programs.”

Inacker was quick to point out that the car did not contain motors, batteries, or anything that would explode or catch fire in the planned punishment. He also said that he bought the 2023 Tesla Model Y, which had been totaled in an accident, for around $4,000 from a junkyard in Yonkers, N.Y.

Inacker stressed that no one should go out and vandalize Teslas, which has been occurring with frequency around the country.

It was Inacker who took the first shots at the Tesla, three sledgehammer blows to the passenger-side window.

People cheered, venomously cursed Musk, then — unexpectedly — chanted, “Go, Birds,” as though proving that any occasion is worth celebrating the Eagles.

“I have contempt for Musk!” said a woman who called herself C.B. The Delaware healthcare worker, who declared that she despised “cruel budget cuts” to children’s health programs, took out an entire side window with her muscle and her mania.

Others stepped up to the now-gouged and listing vehicle. A person dressed as Elmo whacked a side-view mirror clean off the car. One young man tried hitting metal-splitting home runs with a bat-like implement. Inacker returned to the action and took out the car’s windshield. People crunched Tesla bits under their shoes, the broken pieces of glass glittering under the fluorescent lights.

To show they were not protesting only MAGA, a few in the group grabbed a device called the “Chuck Schumer Pool Noodle” and banged it against the car for a bit to no effect.

“As you can see, the Democratic Party has been pretty inefficient against Musk,” Inacker wisecracked.

As the rest of the assault continued and people really got into it, it was unclear whether politics or personal issues were spurring on the bangers.

Out of nowhere, a drum line of four young people appeared in the Rage Room. The crew, from Positive Movement Entertainment Drumline and Drill Team, based in Spring Garden, added tempo and timing to the staccato communal metal bashing.

After a while, the exhausted bunch stopped and removed their helmets, their faces gleaming with sweat. They inspected the car and found it to their liking: wrecked and ugly.

“Anybody hurt?” asked Inacker, who said he will be hauling the Tesla to other venues in the state, counting on donations to fuel his fight.

“We’re OK!” Byrd responded. “I knew it would be good. But that was real good.”