Musk slams ‘puppetmasters’ after protesters struggle to explain why they call Trump a ‘fascist’ in viral video

Elon Musk slammed the alleged “puppetmasters” behind anti-Trump demonstrations this weekend after viral video showed protesters struggling to explain why they believe President Donald Trump is a “fascist.” 

“The problem is the puppetmasters, not the puppets, as the latter have no idea why they are even there,” Musk posted to X on Sunday accompanied by video footage of protesters stumbling over what issues they have with Trump. 

“He just does everything he wants… He’s a convicted felon, you know, that’s all I know,” one protester in the video said after tripping over why he believes Trump is a “fascist,” while holding a sign reading, “The Fascist Trump Regime Must Go.” The footage was recorded by Ted Goodman, a political strategist who launched a livestream program with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, on Saturday in Washington, D.C.

“One of the things is he’s trying to control the media,” another protester in the video responded when asked for evidence Trump is allegedly a “fascist.”

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Anti-Trump protesters during Washington, D.C., demonstration. (Ted Goodman)

“Doesn’t every president try to control the narrative?” Goodman pressed. 

“They try to control their own narrative. But one of the things that Trump has done, for example, is the renaming the Gulf of Mexico and then not allowing the Associated Press to come into the White House,” the protester continued. 

The first protester explained in the video that he was there after he “saw people were hanging out,” while the second protester explained he was there due to “executive overreach.” 

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A demonstrator is dressed as the fictional character Waldo during the protest on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on April 5, 2025. (Bryan Dozier/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

The first protester added that he had been given a sign describing Trump as a “fascist,” as well as a printed one-sheeter that declared, “We are facing fascism… The time to act is now!” alongside a photoshopped image of Trump with a Hitler-styled mustache. 

Video of the protesters racked up more than 12 million views on X by Sunday afternoon. 

One-sheet paper at an anti-Trump rally in Washington, D.C. (Ted Goodman )

More than 1,200 protests were held across the nation on Saturday as critics gathered to protest the administration, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), reciprocal tariffs, federal layoffs and immigration reform. 

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“[I’m] protesting how horrible things have become in our country,” one protester told Fox News Digital from a demonstration in New York on Saturday. “I mean, we’ve been taken over by a bunch of robber barons who are trying to take away all of our rights, benefits and liberty.”

People gather to protest the Trump administration on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., on April 5, 2025. (Bryan Dozier/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

“I am protesting what is happening with this blessed country, the democracy that was advanced democracy now in transition to a dictatorship, and we are almost in a fascist state right now – only because the rule of law is bending right now, and it may break,” another protester told Fox Digital. 

Video

The protests this weekend follow mass protests targeting Tesla last weekend. Elon Musk, who is helping lead DOGE and is a staunch Trump ally, is the CEO of Tesla and has seen anti-Trump critics physically attack, monetarily boycott, and protest the car company over his politics. 

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“Who is funding and organizing all these paid protests?” Musk posted to X last weekend of the recent anti-Tesla protests. 

Elon Musk’s Tesla showroom locations have faced repeated protests over his role in DOGE. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

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Amid the protests, a local news outlet, media personalities and conservative critics speculated that the anti-Tesla protests were embroiled in “astroturfing,” which is defined by Merriam-Webster as a campaign “falsely made to appear grassroots.” 

Fox News Digitals’ Kaylee Holland and Madeline Coggins contributed to this report.