Tesla CEO Elon Musk has slammed the restrictions imposed in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic and termed them “undemocratic” and “fascist”. Answering questions during Tesla’s Q1 2020 earning call on Wednesday, Musk said that putting such restrictions was akin to infringing upon people’s rights and freedom. Musk has been opposing COVID-19 restrictions from the very beginning of the outbreak and went to the extent of terming the coronavirus panic “dumb”.
Here’s what Elon Musk said on COVID-19 restrictions:
1. “This is the time to think about the future and also to ask, is it right to infringe upon people’s rights, as what is happening right now,” Elon Musk said.
2. “I think the people are going to be very angry about this and are very angry because somebody should really — if somebody wants to stay in their house, that’s great. They should be allowed to stay in the house, and they should not be compelled to leave,” he added.
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3. “But 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. People back they’ve gotten their freedom,” he said.
4. Confessing that he was worried about not being able to resume production in its factory in Fremont, California, Elon Musk said, “I should say we are a bit worried about not being able to resume production in the Bay Area, and that should be identified as a serious risk. We only have two car factories right now, one in Shanghai and one in the Bay Area, and the Bay Area produces the vast majority of our cars, all of S and X, and most of the 3 and all of the Y.”
5. Musk further said that “forcibly imprisoning people in their homes against all their constitutional alliance” is “horrible and wrong”.