Fox News host Harris Faulkner suggested that President Donald Trump could use the “death penalty” as a tool against Tesla vandals, a clear escalation in rhetoric as the president and his allies try to stem the bleeding for Elon Musk and his beleaguered electric vehicle company.
Faulkner offered the suggestion during an interview with White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Wednesday. Doing so required the host to think up an extreme hypothetical.
“I did some homework for this segment, and I want to start some place that no one’s talking about,” Faulkner said. “What happens if there’s someone in one of these cars they blow up? That can happen. That becomes murder. Or worse, terrorism plus.”
Faulkner pointed out that one of Trump’s day-one executive orders ended Joe Biden’s moratorium on federal executions.
“Do you think this sort of thing—and I hate to think it,” Faulkner said. “People leave their children and pets in cars. This is deadly, dangerous stuff these liberal protesters are playing with.”
A number of Teslas have been vandalized and set on fire across the country—apparently in protest against Elon Musk’s efforts to reshape the federal government. Musk is Tesla’s CEO.
There are no reports of any injuries or deaths related to the Tesla vandalism.
A wave of separate protests being publicly organized against Musk at Tesla dealerships have stayed non-violent.
Responding to Faulkner, Leavitt did not address the possible use of the death penalty.
“The Trump derangement syndrome from the left is on true display with these attacks,” she said. “It is getting dangerous, and the White House wholeheartedly condemns it. And we applaud Attorney General Pam Bondi for investigating these acts as domestic terrorism, because that is what they are.”
Bondi and Trump have both suggested the vandalism amounts to terrorism. The Justice Department this week announced charges against three people accused of throwing molotov cocktails at the electric cars. Bondi called it a “warning.”
After Leavitt finished speaking, Faulkner was sure to reiterate her point about capital punishment: “Well, as I just pointed out, the president gave himself another tool if this really goes dark, much darker than it already has.”
Tesla stocks have plummeted as Musk—who also owns X and SpaceX—has seemed to focus much of his effort on his work for the White House.
In a stunt apparently intended as publicity for Tesla, Trump last week bought one of the cars and showed off several of them on the White House lawn.
Meanwhile, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick during an appearance on Fox News this week urged Americans to “buy Tesla” stock. He added that Musk was “probably the best person to bet on I’ve ever met.”
