In January, sales of Tesla cars slumped across five European countries – the UK, France, Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands. Sales were down too in California – the US state with the largest car market. And according to at least one survey, Musk and his politics could be a significant part of the problem.

"No bigger obstacle exists to mass EV adoption than the 'Red Wall,'" veteran Republican strategist Mike Murphy said in a new report.

The whole point of the Musk operation is transparency and efficiency in spending taxpayer dollars. Elon Musk is here to stay. And Democrats will just have to deal with it.