A Trump administration official's call for Fox News viewers to "buy Tesla" sparked a flood of outrage on social media Wednesday night.
Howard Lutnick, Trump's Commerce Secretary, appeared on "Jesse Watters Primetime" where he hawked Elon Musk's "next-generation" electric vehicles amid violent protests and slumping sales.
"I think, if you want to learn something on this show tonight, buy Tesla! It's unbelievable that this guy's stock is this cheap. It'll never be this cheap again."
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Lutnick added: "When people understands the things he's building, the robots he's building, the technology he's building, people are going to be dreaming of today and Jesse Watters and thinking, 'Gosh, I should've bought Elon Musk's stock. I mean, who wouldn't invest in Elon Musk? You gotta be kidding me."
Lutnick's remarks drew swift rebuke from critics who say the brazen promotion may be "illegal."
"This is illegal," wrote Democratic strategist Chris D. Jackson on X.
"When Kellyanne Conway encouraged Fox viewers to buy Ivanka Trump's clothing line, the top Oversight REPUBLICAN called it 'wrong' and asked the U.S. Office of Government Ethics to look into it. Tonight, the Commerce Secretary on Fox encouraged people to buy Tesla stock," noted Sam Stein of The Bulwark.
"If this cabinet secretary himself owns any of the stock he's touting on TV, he's probably committed a serious ethics offense. If he doesn't own the stock himself, then he probably hasn't broken any laws, but is engaged in a shameful breach of trust with the audience watching," chided David Frum of The Atlantic.
"This is like Gina Raimondo going on MSNBC and telling people to buy Hunter Biden’s paintings, only if Hunter was the unelected co-president and not a private citizen," wrote independent journalist Aaron Rupar on X.
"This seems highly illegal," opined the PatriotTakes account on X.
Watch the clip below or at this link.
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick tells Fox viewers to buy Tesla stock pic.twitter.com/t0syL32sa3
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 20, 2025
