Daily Show host Jordan Klepper called out his own audience for applauding ‘domestic terrorism’ after their outrageous response to attacks on Tesla dealerships.
Three people have been charged with separate attacks on Tesla facilities across the country and Attorney General Pam Bondi has threatened people with jail time for the attacks.
Klepper – one of the rotating hosts of the long-running Comedy Central series – played clips of the attacks on his show Wednesday night.
The comedian was stunned when the audience erupted in rapturous applause.
Klepper asked: ‘Wow. You guys like petty acts of domestic terrorism, huh?’
His New York City crowd again began to cheer before Klepper tried to lecture them towards more peaceful demonstration.
‘Nobody should be breaking the law and blowing up Teslas,’ he said.
However, he couldn’t help getting in a jab at Musk’s company: ‘Because if you just wait a few minutes, they’ll probably just do it by themselves.’
The outrageous reaction came as Attorney General Bondi announced Thursday that ‘the days of committing crimes without consequence have ended.’
Liberal Daily Show host Jordan Klepper seemed stunned by his audience’s outrageous response to reports of attacks on terror dealerships
Three people have been charged with separate attacks on Tesla facilities across the country and Attorney General Pam Bondi warning jail time to people she said committed ‘domestic terrorism’
‘Let this be a warning: if you join this wave of domestic terrorism against Tesla properties, the Department of Justice will put you behind bars,’ Bondi said.
The first of the alleged attackers to face charges was named as Adam Matthew Lansky, 41, who is accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at a Tesla dealership in Salem, Oregon on January 20.
Lanksy allegedly threw a ‘large heavy object through the dealership window’, and was armed with a suppressed AR-15 at the time, reports Fox News.
A week after the Oregon firebombing, Lucy Grace Nelson, also known as Justin Thomas Nelson, 42, was taken into custody in Loveland, Colorado on January 29 after allegedly being caught attempting to light Molotov cocktails near a dealership.
Prosecutors said Nelson was found to have been in possession of a container of gasoline, bottles and wicks, which were allegedly intended to be used to create incendiary weapons.
On March 7, Daniel Clarke-Pounder, 24, allegedly vandalized a dealership in Charleston, South Carolina, by spray-painting messages reading ‘f*** Trump’ and ‘Long Live Ukraine’ before lighting three charging stations on fire.
Lanksy and Nelson are charged with arson of property in interstate commerce and possession of unregistered destructive device, while Clarke-Pounder was charged with arson of property in interstate commerce.
Even after telling them the destruction and setting Teslas on fire was unacceptable, Klepper couldn’t help getting in a jab at Musk’s company, adding: ‘Because if you just wait a few minutes, they’ll probably just do it by themselves.’
Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a chilling warning to the ‘domestic terrorists’ targeting Tesla dealerships, saying: ‘Let this be a warning: if you join this wave of domestic terrorism against Tesla properties, the Department of Justice will put you behind bars’
All three suspects face up to 20 years in prison if convicted, the DOJ said.
Tesla’s share price has dropped dramatically this year amid chief Elon Musk’s intimate ties to the Trump White House, with disgruntled liberal customers calling to boycott the brand as repeat attacks occur at dealerships.
This week, a dealership in Las Vegas was also targeted by an apparent firebombing as a row of Tesla vehicles were set ablaze.
Police said the unknown suspect, who was seen at the scene in all black, managed to completely burn out two of the cars while damaging three others before escaping.
Musk later responded to footage of the blaze, sharing it to his X profile and captioned it: ‘This level of violence is insane and deeply wrong.’
While local authorities in some of the targeted Tesla dealerships were cautious over how to characterize the attacks, Bondi did not hold back with a previous statement on Tuesday, branding them ‘nothing short of domestic terrorism.’
‘They’re targeting Elon Musk who is out there trying to save our country and it will not be tolerated. We are coming after you,’ she added in an appearance on Fox News.
Nelson, seen in their mugshot, was allegedly found to have been in possession of a container of gasoline, bottles and wicks, which prosecutors say were intended to be used to create incendiary weapons
Clarke-Pounder (pictured) faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted, the same fate Nelson and Lansky also face on charges of arson of property in interstate commerce and possession of unregistered destructive device
One of the Molotov cocktails that Lanksy allegedly threw at a Tesla dealership is pictured
Former FBI special agent Michael Tabman told Fox News that despite Bondi’s pledge to imprison anyone targeting Musk’s businesses, he expects political violence to escalate as Trump continues rapidly reshaping the federal government.
‘I do fear that more violence is on its way,’ Tabman said.
‘Maybe not directly Teslas or DOGE, but just general political violence. I think it’s already here. But I think there’s more around the corner.’
‘I think right now, given the tenor of society, given the rhetoric that we hear, the dogma that we hear and that a lot of what we hear is filled with violence or violent undertones, I say, yes, I think we are becoming a more reactionary country,’ Tabman added.
‘We’re a more divided country, hatred for the other side is boiling over, and I’m putting this in on both sides.’
Tabman said he doesn’t see a quick resolution to the attacks as ‘realistic’, and said he expects individuals to continue targeting Musk so long as he teams up with Trump.
‘And you know, there are some people who think in terms of, hey, this is working. Let’s say they’re anti-DOGE or anti-Trump, and they feel that, hey, if we keep doing this, eventually we’ll sort of overthrow – not literally overthrow – but sort of dethrone the king.’
Daniel Clarke-Pounder, 24, allegedly vandalized a dealership in Charleston, South Carolina on March 7 by spray-painting messages reading ‘f*** Trump’ and ‘Long Live Ukraine’ before lighting three charging stations on fire
Lucy Grace Nelson, also known as Justin Thomas Nelson, 42, was taken into custody in Loveland, Colorado on January 29 after allegedly being caught attempting to light Molotov cocktails near a Tesla dealership
Prosecutors alleged the person seen in this CCTV footage was Adam Matthew Lansky, 41, who is accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at a Tesla dealership in Salem, Oregon on January 20
It comes after Musk made startling response to the attacks, claiming he was being targeted by a conspiracy to assassinate him and destroy his companies.
Musk told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Tuesday night that he believes his attempts to cut government waste and fraud is the reason why certain characters ‘want to kill me.’
‘It turns out when you take away people’s, you know, the money that they’re receiving fraudulently, they get very upset,’ he said.
‘And they basically want kill me because I’m stopping their fraud and they want to hurt Tesla because we’re stopping the terrible waste and corruption in the government. And, well, I guess they’re bad people. Bad people do bad things.’
Musk repeated the claim made by many conservative lawmakers, including Marjorie Taylor Greene, that there could be left-wing groups coordinating the protests and attacks on Tesla vehicles and dealerships.
‘I think there are larger forces at work as well,’ Musk said. ‘I mean, who’s funding and who’s coordinating it? Because this is crazy. I’ve never seen anything like this.
‘Tesla is a peaceful company, we’ve never done anything harmful. I’ve never done anything harmful, I’ve only done productive things, so I think we just have a deranged… I think there’s some kind of mental illness going on here,’ he added.