Torched Teslas show the normalization of political violence
Let’s be blunt: When radicals start torching Teslas because they don’t like Elon Musk, we’ve left the realm of protest and entered the land of the unhinged.
Whether you like Musk or not, setting fires to cars is not activism. It’s vandalism wrapped in self-righteousness.
And then there’s Luigi Mangione, who allegedly shot an insurance executive in the back on a Manhattan street. It wasn’t a face-to-face duel as in olden times. That was an execution.
And yet, some on the far left treat Mangione like some kind of vigilante hero. Social media lit up with applause, as if assassinating someone over grievances with the health care system is now a form of progressive justice.
And you want to know the worst part? The clapping. The smug laughs from the “Daily Show” crowd as they watched Teslas burn. The reaction wasn’t horror — it was joy. This isn’t political satire; it’s moral rot disguised as comedy.
But let’s not pretend the right doesn’t have its own sickness. Remember Jan. 6? A violent mob stormed the Capitol to overturn an election. And parts of the right tried to spin it into a tourist field trip that, let’s say, got out of hand. Or worse — they blamed antifa and the FBI. When you have to invent conspiracy theories to justify chaos, you're no better than the side you claim to oppose.
The pattern is clear. Both extremes now believe violence is acceptable — and not simply acceptable, but even virtuous — if it serves their cause. And when someone from their team crosses the line, the response is rarely condemnation. It’s justification. It’s “yeah, but look what the other side did.” That’s not argument, my friends. That’s moral cowardice.
Sure, America has had violent fringes before — the Weather Underground, the Ku Klux Klan, political assassins — but we didn’t celebrate them in the mainstream. We didn’t cheer them on national television. We didn’t retweet their destruction with fire emojis and hashtags.
So what’s new isn’t the violence — it’s the applause. It’s the cultural approval of lawlessness, as long as it’s our side throwing the punches or lighting the fires.
We’ve created a world where rage is rewarded, and principle is either dead or well on its way to the grave — where mobs feel empowered and excuses flow like water over Niagara Falls. The center is being hollowed out by sanctimony on all sides, and unless more people stand up and say “Enough,” the fringe will keep dragging the country into the dark hole it’s been digging for a while now.
So here’s a thought: If you don’t like Teslas, don’t buy one. If you’re unhappy with the way insurance companies do business, tell your member of Congress do something about it. And if you don’t like the result of a presidential election, grow up and accept it. It’s called democracy.
And while we’re at it, how about we stop treating political violence like it’s team sports. How about we judge actions by the content of their character — not the color of their ideology.
Because if we don’t? We’re not just losing the argument. We’re losing the country.
Bernard Goldberg is an Emmy and an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University award-winning writer and journalist. He is the author of five books and publishes exclusive weekly columns, audio commentaries and Q&As on his Substack page. Follow him @BernardGoldberg.