A parody ‘Tesla – The Swasticar’ advert posted at a London bus stop. Photograph: People vs Elon
The tycoon’s links with Donald Trump and Germany’s far-right AfD have slammed the brakes on sales and put the car’s owners in a spin
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In Poland – where the Nazi German occupation led to the deaths of 6 million Poles, including 3 million Jews – the country’s tourism minister called on citizens to boycott Tesla after Musk’s surprise appearance at the AfD rally. “All I can say is that probably no normal Pole should buy a Tesla any more,” Sławomir Nitras recently told Polish broadcaster Tok FM. “A serious and strong response is necessary, including a consumer boycott.”
In August, the German drugstore chain Rossmann said it would no longer buy Tesla cars for its corporate fleet, citing Musk’s support for Trump, while the German energy company LichtBlick said on social media that it would be “pulling the plug” on the Tesla vehicles in its fleet, citing Musk’s backing of “a rightwing populist and extremist party”.
“The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, is promoting the far right in Europe,” the campaign group wrote on social media after their collaboration with Germany’s Centre for Political Beauty. “Don’t buy a Tesla.”
In London, activists put up a parody “Tesla – The Swasticar” bus stop advert with the tagline “goes from 0 to 1939 in 3 seconds”, referencing the start of the second world war, and stickers with similar wording have been slapped on Tesla cars. In Tottenham, north London, a member of the activist group People vs Elon took a cardboard cutout of Musk’s salute into a Tesla dealership.
Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.Neo-Fascist Climate Science Denier Donald Trump says Burn, Baby, Burn.
Brazil’s top prosecutor has filed federal charges against Jair Bolsonaro, alleging that the former president attempted a coup in 2023. Focus Pix / Shutterstock
The Brazilian attorney-general has charged the country’s former president, Jair Bolsonaro, with participating in a plot to cling to power through a coup d’etat in 2023 milo. If Bolsonaro is convicted, he could spend between 38 and 43 years in prison.
Bolsonaro, who governed Brazil between 2019 and 2022 but lost his attempt at re-election to current president Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva, is one of 34 people to be formally charged for offences related to the alleged coup. These include high-ranking serving and retired members of the military, as well as former ministers and politicians.
The charges levelled against them are involvement in an attempted coup d’etat, violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, and criminal organisation.
According to the attorney-general’s 272-page indictment, Bolsonaro became increasingly inclined to pursue anti-democratic measures in the months before the election. He allegedly considered taking steps to retain power even before the first round of voting.
Then, after his defeat by an extremely narrow margin, the indictment claims that Bolsonaro and his alleged accomplices decided to implement the plan before Lula took office in January 2023.
An investigation by Brazil’s federal police in November found that the insurrection in the country’s capital Brasília on January 8 2023, where rioters invaded the presidential palace, congress and supreme court, was part of this plan. The same investigation suggested the plan also included a plot to assassinate Lula and his vice-president Geraldo Alckmin, as well as supreme court judge Alexandre de Moraes.
Bolsonaro denies any wrongdoing and – at least in public – is bullish about his fate. Speaking to journalists hours before the charges were filed, he said: “I have no concerns about the accusations, zero.”
The case will now be considered by the Supreme Court, whose judges will decide whether to initiate criminal proceedings against Bolsonaro and the other defendants. This is expected to happen over the coming weeks. If the judges accept the charges and proceedings are established, the defendants will be called to answer them.
This is the first time in Brazilian history that high-ranking members of the armed forces have been indicted and charged with crimes associated with a coup d’etat. According to the indictment, the intention was for the armed forces to be called upon to act as a “moderating power”, with the aim of overturning the election result.
Army generals Augusto Heleno, Walter Braga Netto and Paulo Sérgio Nogueira de Oliveira are among those who have been charged. These men served as ministers in the Bolsonaro government, with Braga Netto also running as the vice-president on Bolsonaro’s ticket in 2022.
Another high-ranking member of the armed forces charged by the attorney-general is Almir Garnier Santos, the commander of the Brazilian navy. These four men were allegedly part of the inner nuclei that planned and prepared the attempted coup.
Several other servicemen, including generals, colonels and other officers, were charged with crimes related to the planning and execution of the initial phases of the coup. The sentences for all of these men could amount to up to 30 years in prison.
Like Bolsonaro, Braga Netto denies any guilt. In a statement released on February 18, his lawyers called the charges a “fantasy”. Lawyers for Garnier Santos and Heleno have chosen not to comment until having fully reviewed the charges.
Unlike those in the military, some of the political figures charged by the attorney general had criminal antecedents. One of the politicians named in the indictment is Filipe Martins, Bolsonaro’s former international affairs adviser and a “disciple” of the deceased far-right polemicist, Olavo de Carvalho. Martins’ lawyers released a statement on February 18 calling the accusations “unfounded”.
In December 2024, Martins was convicted of making a gesture alluding to white supremacy during a virtual session of the senate. He initially received a sentence of two years and four months in prison for inciting racial prejudice, which was replaced by 850 hours of community service.
Far-right commentator Paulo Figueiredo Filho, the grandson of Brazil’s last military dictator, João Figueiredo, was also charged. He appeared on a podcast on February 19 to criticise the charge. Figueiredo lives in the US, where he was arrested in 2019 because of problems with his immigration status.
Lessons from and to Brazil
Brazil has already offered some lessons to other countries facing similar authoritarian challenges. Its response to the insurrection in Brasília was swift and robust. Within days, hundreds of rioters had been arrested and the state governor of the federal district was suspended for his sluggish response.
Then, in 2023, Bolsonaro was banned from running for office for eight years over false claims that the electronic ballots used in the previous year’s election were vulnerable to hacking and fraud. Those involved with the attempted military coup have also been investigated and some subsequently arrested.
But the coup plot case can also serve as a lesson to the country. Brazil has a history both of successful and unsuccessful military coups. The last successful military coup led to a dictatorship that lasted from 1964 until 1985.
Brazil also has a history of amnesties, whereby crimes committed during these coups and authoritarian regimes have been pardoned. There have been 48 amnesties in Brazil since 1889, with the most recent one, in 1979, allowing the dictatorship to self-amnesty its crimes.
For over 45 years, it has hindered criminal accountability for the perpetrators of the crimes of the dictatorship. This included the murder of politician Rubens Paiva, whose disappearance was the focus of the 2024 Oscar-nominated film, I’m Still Here.
Bolsonaro and other individuals charged, as well as their supporters and aligned politicians, have been demanding a “humanitarian amnesty” for those who allegedly participated in the coup plot.
Given Bolsonaro’s history, this seems paradoxical. Throughout his decades-long public career, Bolsonaro has consistently celebrated the crimes of the military dictatorship and supported violations of human rights. At the same time, he has also opposed individuals and organisations that advocate for victims of the dictatorship.
If Bolsonaro and his alleged accomplices are found guilty, it could be an unparalleled lesson for Brazil. Punishing anyone convicted would be an opportunity to step away from the country’s tradition of impunity and move towards addressing systemic injustices.
Democratic Maine Gov. Janet Mills had an exchange with U.S. President Donald Trump about transgender athletes during a meeting in Washington, D.C. on February 21, 2025. (Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images)
The president threatened to cut off federal funding to the state for respecting the identities of trans student-athletes.
Democratic Maine Gov. Janet Mills stood up to U.S. President Donald Trump at a Friday event in Washington, D.C. after the Republican threatened to cut off federal funding because the state allows transgender youth to participate in sports in line with their identities.
While at the podium, Trump asked if Maine’s governor was at the event. After Mills confirmed her presence, he asked if she will comply with his executive order intended to use his administration’s interpretation of Title IX—a federal law barring discrimination on the basis of sex at educational institutions that get federal funds—to block trans girls and women from competing as female athletes.
“You better do it, because you’re not gonna get any federal funding at all if you don’t,” Trump said to Mills—who replied that she would follow state and federal laws. She also told the president, “See you in court.”
TRUMP: The NCAA has complied immediately. That's good. But I understand Maine — is the governor of Maine here?
JANET MILLS: Yeah I'm here
TRUMP: Are you not gonna comply?
JM: I'm going to comply with state and federal law
Mills also released a statement vowing that “if the president attempts to unilaterally deprive Maine school children of the benefit of federal funding, my administration and the attorney general will take all appropriate and necessary legal action to restore that funding and the academic opportunity it provides. The state of Maine will not be intimidated by the president’s threats.”
Maine Morning Star reported Friday that the state’s attorney general, Aaron Frey, said in a statement that any attempt by Trump to cut federal funding over the issue “would be illegal and in direct violation of federal court orders.”
“Fortunately,” he said, “the rule of law still applies in this country, and I will do everything in my power to defend Maine’s laws and block efforts by the president to bully and threaten us.”
“It is disturbing that President Trump would use children as pawns in advancing his political agenda,” added Frey, who earlier this month joined other Democratic attorneys general in vowing to protect access to gender-affirming healthcare, another GOP target.
Donald Trump decrees forbidden terms denying sexual diversity
While the National Collegiate Athletic Association swiftly updated its policies to align with Trump’s order, the Maine Principals’ Association—which governs athletics for all public high schools and multiple private institutions in the state—confirmed earlier this month that it will continue allowing trans athletes to compete in girls’ sports. Mike Burnham, executive director of MPA’s Interscholastic Division, cited a 2021 update to state law.
Between 2013 and 2021, the association allowed kids to compete in a manner consistent with their gender identity as long as there were no safety concerns. An MPA committee assessed cases one by one, and there were 54 such cases during that period. Only four involved transgender girls.
In 2021, the Democratic-led Legislature added education-related protections for gender identity to [the] Maine Human Rights Act. Since then, the MPA has allowed students to compete with those of their identified gender.
The Friday exchange between Mills and Trump—whose administration is engaged in a sweeping effort to erase trans people—came after the result of a recent pole vaulting state championship for high schoolers and one Republican lawmaker’s Facebook post about it garnered national media attention.
State Rep. Laurel Libby (R-90) on Monday posted a pair of photos identifying one Greely High School pole vaulter as trans and put the teenager’s preferred name in quotation marks. She later toldMaine’s Total Coverage, “I think we have a responsibility to protect girls’ sports, to protect Maine girls, and to ensure that they have a level playing field.”
The outlet noted that state House Minority Leader Katrina Smith (R-62) “shared on her Instagram the names and email addresses of the Maine Department of Education commissioner, the state attorney general, and the executive director of the Maine Principals’ Association telling constituents to call on them to follow President Trump’s executive order.”
Libby—who on Friday made several more Facebook posts highlighting Trump’s threat to Mills and thanking the president—has faced strong backlash from Democratic lawmakers and various other critics for her initial post bullying the teenage athlete.
“We have been reminded this week of the importance of respecting the privacy of Maine kids, and the value in treating people of all ages with kindness and decency,” Rep. Ryan Fecteau (D-103), the first openly gay speaker of the Maine House of Representatives, wrote in a Friday opinion piece for the Bangor Daily News.
“To young people who are members of the LGBTQ+ community, know that I see you and I stand with you,” he said. “After the events of this week, I ask all my legislative colleagues to recommit to keeping kids out of the political fray. They deserve better. There is a time and place for policy debates. That time and place will never be a social media post attacking a student. Full stop.”
Later on Friday, the Trump administration sent a letter to Maine Department of Education Commissioner Pender Makin announcing a federal investigation into the state agency and Maine School Administrative District #51, which includes Greely High School.
“Let me be clear: If Maine wants to continue to receive federal funds from the Education Department, it has to follow Title IX,” said Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights at the federal level. “If it wants to forgo federal funds and continue to trample the rights of its young female athletes, that, too, is its choice.”
Responding in a lengthy statement, Mills said that “no president—Republican or Democrat—can withhold federal funding authorized and appropriated by Congress and paid for by Maine taxpayers in an attempt to coerce someone into compliance with his will. It is a violation of our Constitution and of our laws, which I took an oath to uphold.”
“Maine may one of the first states to undergo an investigation by his administration, but we won’t be the last,” warned Mills, a former district attorney and state attorney general. “Today, the president of the United States has targeted one particular group on one particular issue which Maine law has addressed. But you must ask yourself: Who and what will he target next, and what will he do? Will it be you? Will it be because of your race or your religion? Will it be because you look different or think differently? Where does it end? In America, the president is neither a king nor a dictator, as much as this one tries to act like it—and it is the rule of law that prevents him from being so.”
“I imagine that the outcome of this politically directed investigation is all but predetermined,” she added, again pledging to fight Trump in court. “But do not be misled: This is not just about who can compete on the athletic field, this is about whether a president can force compliance with his will, without regard for the rule of law that governs our nation. I believe he cannot.”
This post has been updated to include the Trump administration’s letter to the Maine Department of Education and the governor’s response.
Democratic Maine Gov. Janet Mills responds to Donald Trump’s threats saying “See you in court”.Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks during the daily briefing in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on February 12, 2025. (Photo: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images)
The news outlet has been barred from presidential events for refusing to call the Gulf of Mexico by the president’s chosen name, “the Gulf of America.”
Accusing the White House of a “targeted attack” on editorial independence that “strikes at the very core of the First Amendment,” The Associated Press on Friday filed a lawsuit against three Trump administration officials over its blocked access to all presidential events.
The administration announced earlier this month that AP reporters would not be permitted to cover press events at the White House, Mar-a-Lago, or on Air Force One due to its editorial decision to continue referring to the Gulf of Mexico by the name that has been internationally recognized for more than 400 years.
President Donald Trump issued an executive order in January stating that the Gulf of Mexico would be renamed the Gulf of America. Trump has the authority to change a body of water’s name for official government purposes, and some bodies of water are called by different names in different countries—for example, the Gulf of California is known as the Sea of Cortez in Mexico.
The AP said it would acknowledge Trump’s chosen name for the body of water, but continue officially referring to it as the Gulf of Mexico.
“The press and all people in the United States have the right to choose their own words and not be retaliated against by the government.”
As Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said this month as she threatened to sue Google for changing the Gulf of Mexico’s names in its maps feature, the U.S. does not have sovereignty over the body of water, and Trump cannot unilaterally order other entities to call it by his chosen name.
The AP on Friday said in its lawsuit that “the press and all people in the United States have the right to choose their own words and not be retaliated against by the government.”
The suit names White House Chief of Staff Susan Wiles, Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich, and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who has said in briefings that it is “a fact” that the body of water off the western coast of Florida and the southern coasts of several other states is called the Gulf of America.
The news outlet called on the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. to stop the White House from blocking its journalists from gathering news at presidential events.
Neo-Fascist Climate Science Denier Donald Trump says Burn, Baby, Burn.Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage at the 2025 Alliance for Responsible Citizenship conference. Credit: ARC / YouTube
The Reform UK leader reiterated false climate claims at Jordan Peterson’s Alliance for Responsible Citizenship event in London.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has admitted that he doesn’t know about climate science, despite claiming that politicians shouldn’t worry about man-made carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
Farage was speaking at the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC) conference in London today. ARC claims that it wants to help “save civilisation”, yet several of the event’s speakers have spread climate science denial.
In an interview with Canadian psychologist and ARC co-founder Jordan Peterson, Farage said claimed that sunspots and volcanoes have more impact on the climate than human-caused CO2 emissions – an opinion longdebunked by climate experts.
He added: “I’m not a scientist. I can’t tell you whether CO2 is leading to warming or not, but there are so many other massive factors.”
Despite admitting that he is not a climate expert, Farage claimed it was “absolutely nuts” that CO2 is considered to be a pollutant.
Reform UK campaigns to entirely scrap the UK’s policies to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. It also proposes increased fossil fuel extraction, including the opening of new coal mines, and received at least £2.3 million (92 percent of its funding) from fossil fuel interests, polluters and climate deniers prior to the 2024 general election campaign.
As DeSmog revealed on Monday, a leaked guest list for the ARC event includes executives from oil and gas giants including BP, Koch Inc., Valero Energy, and Energy Transfer.
ARC received £1 million in 2023 from its director Paul Marshall, a hedge fund manager who owns GB News and recently bought The Spectator magazine. As revealed by DeSmog, Marshall’s hedge fund had £1.8 billion invested in fossil fuels – including in oil and gas giants Chevron, Shell, and Equinor – as of June 2023.
On 17 February, during the first day of the ARC conference, Donald Trump’s Energy Secretary Chris Wright called the UK’s 2050 net zero target “sinister”, and suggested climate action was a plot to “shrink human freedom”.
Nigel Farage and Climate Denial
Farage was a star speaker on the second day of the ARC conference at the ExCel centre in east London, during which he took part in a one-on-one interview with ARC frontman Peterson, who is a major promoter of climate science denial.
After declaring that “net zero is a complete disaster”, Farage called for dozens of “small modular nuclear reactors” across the UK. Peterson responded with a question about the science of climate change, suggesting: “Maybe it’s time to stop our obsession with carbon altogether.”
Peterson said: “I also think conceivably that the environmentalist climate scam was an offshoot of the Club of Rome Malthusian stupidity that is predicated on the presumption that resources are finite and that there’s far too many people on the planet, and there’s a terrible anti-human motivation lurking underneath all of that’s pessimistic and brutal and genocidal in its fundamental ethos.”
Farage replied: “The one thing I hear that drives me absolutely potty is that carbon dioxide is a pollutant! That’s what they tell us! That clearly is absolutely nuts. Now, there are times in our past when CO2 in the atmosphere has been much, much higher than it is today, and that’s before people drove 4×4 Chelsea tractors.”
In fact, 2024 was the hottest year on record, according to experts at the World Health Organization.
As climate scientist Dr Philipp Breul from Imperial College London has stated: “We are causing the climate to change significantly faster than it has, to the best of our knowledge, in the last million years.
“This incredibly fast rate of change is the real problem, as it leaves neither society nor the ecosystem time to adapt.”
Farage went on to say that Sir Patrick Moore, a TV astronomer, told him 20 years ago that “when it comes to carbon dioxide levels, and when it comes to warming and cooling, let me assure you that sunspot activity and underwater volcanic activity will always have a bigger impact on the environment than man himself ever can”.
“I’ve very much stuck to that view,” Farage added.
Climate scientists at the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the world’s leading climate science body, have stressed that “it is a statement of fact, we cannot be any more certain; it is unequivocal and indisputable that humans are warming the planet”.
Farage went on to repeat the misleading claim that only three percent of CO2 emissions are produced by humans. In fact, human activity has raised the atmosphere’s carbon dioxide content by 50 percent in less than 200 years, according to NASA.
The Reform UK described himself as an “environmentalist in the old school sense and definition of that term”, complaining that “climate hysteria has blinded us to other environmental disasters such as the rape of our oceans”.
Later in the interview, Farage agreed with Peterson that “family” is of central importance for a happy society. He also said he believed in “Judeo-Christen values”, and asserted that the Conservative Party is “not remotely right-wing”.
Nigel Farage explains the politics of Reform UK: Racism, Fake anti-establishmentism, Deregulation, Corporatism, Climate Change Denial, Mysogyny and Transphobia.Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.
