A video showing a protester dragging a dummy of Elon Musk at what appears to be Monday’s 50501 protest in Washington D.C. has gone viral online.
Newsweek has reached out to Musk via an email to X, formerly Twitter, and to 50501 via email for comment.
Why It Matters
Yesterday’s protests and the dummy of Musk are reflective both of the criticism that he is facing and the broader state of division and polarization in American politics.
Mass deportations and Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) federal cuts were cited as some of the key motivations behind the demonstrations.
JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images
What To Know
Thousands of Americans across the country gathered against President Donald Trump and Musk on Monday as part of demonstrations organized by the 50501 movement, which had called in an Instagram post for a “day of action” for Presidents Day.
The clip of the dummy was first posted by the account Right Angle News Network, which said it was from a protest in D.C. but did not specifically reference the 50501 movement.
BREAKING – At a massive anti-DOGE protest in DC, Democrats can be seen parading an effigy of President Trump with a rope around his neck.
Pure unhinged hatred! pic.twitter.com/oOIWQFKOAf
— Right Angle News Network (@Rightanglenews) February 17, 2025
There was some confusion online over whether the dummy was of Musk or Trump. In the clip it is seen in a striped prison-style outfit, has a tag that says ‘Musk’ and is being dragged by what appears to be a noose hung around the neck.
Targeting Musk
As well as being a focus of Monday’s demonstrations, Musk was the main target at protests that took place earlier this month. In New York City more than 100 people gathered outside City Hall, with one holding a sign depicting Musk as a king, while others had placards reading “No one voted for Elon Musk” and “No tech takeover!”
So far in his role at DOGE, which the White House recently said he was not the administrator of, Musk has led cuts at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), warned that the Department of Education will be shut down and set his sights on the Social Security system.
Recent polling suggests that Americans are split on the overhauling of the federal government under DOGE. Research from the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that only around a third of Americans approve of the department’s creation.
Monday’s protests come shortly after students in Italy hung an effigy of Musk in Milan’s Piazzale Loreto following the inauguration of Trump, where the Tesla CEO made a gesture deemed by some people to be a Nazi salute. Musk responded to this allegation, calling it a “dirty trick” from his critics.
The Piazzale Loreto is where the body of dictator Benito Mussolini was strung and up stoned after his execution by Italian partisans.
What People Are Saying
Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene reshared the effigy video and wrote on X: “The deranged democrats are threatening to kill President Trump and Elon Musk for securing our border and DOGE!! These aren’t protesters. These are government employee who are the resistance to saving America!!!”
Benny Johnson, a conservative political commentator and YouTuber, reshared the video and said on X: “BREAKING: Democrats are dragging around an effigy of President Trump in prison clothes with a noose around his neck at an anti-DOGE protest in DC. Inciting violence. Arrest them. Sick and deranged people.”
Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said of protests in a post on X: “Presidents are not kings. And we are not powerless. In Congress and the courts—with protests and local organizing—we can expose the radicalism of Trump nominees, show how his actions hurt real people, obstruct his agenda, and put checks on his lawlessness. I will keep fighting.”
Elon Musk said in a joint interview with President Donald Trump, which will air in full on Tuesday night on Fox News: “I used to be adored by the left, less so these days…. They call it Trump derangement syndrome, and you don’t realize how real it is until…it’s like you can’t reason with people.”
What Happens Next
50501 are planning several more protests across the U.S., including Save Our Services Day of Action on February 19 against Musk’s “push to gut federal services and impose mass layoffs,” according to the movement’s website.
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