MW Stocks have never been so political as Howard Lutnick says buy Tesla and Tim Walz says sell

By James Rogers

As the White House appears to go 'all-in on propping up Tesla's stock,' political polarization is moving from companies and their products - think Bud Light - to the stock market

The nation's political battleground shifted to the stock market this week, as U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick urged people to buy shares of Tesla Inc. and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz mocked the electric-vehicle giant's share-price drop.

"Buy Tesla - it's unbelievable that this guy's stock is this cheap. It'll never be this cheap again," Lutnick said on Jesse Watters's Fox News Channel show late Wednesday.

"Elon Musk is the best entrepreneur and technologist in America, and I bet on him," the former Cantor Fitzgerald chairman and chief executive said of the Tesla $(TSLA)$ CEO. "I wish I was allowed. I'm not allowed to buy any stocks."

Related: Here's who should be buying Tesla's stock right now, and why, says analyst

Thanks to his role in the "Department of Government Efficiency," or DOGE, Musk is one of the highest-profile figures in the Trump administration and a key ally of the president. But his electric-vehicle company, Tesla, has seen its stock price plunge this year amid a backlash among some consumers who oppose Musk's political activities. Lutnick's comments nonetheless raised eyebrows.

"Traditionally, we see administrations looking to prop up American industry, and they will often focus on a handful of businesses as an example," Jordan Libowitz, a spokesperson for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a nonprofit government watchdog organization, told MarketWatch. But the Trump administration's championing of Tesla - as evidenced by Lutnick's remarks and a recent photo op with Tesla vehicles outside the White House - marks a significant change, according to Libowitz.

"It seems like they are going all-in on propping up Tesla's stock," he said. "It's highly unusual when the owner or primary shareholder is a member of the administration."

Related: Tesla has a big Elon Musk problem, and Wall Street's biggest bull is not happy

On Friday, the Campaign Legal Center, a government watchdog, filed a complaint with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics and ethics officials at the Commerce Department over Lutnick's Tesla comments on Fox News. The Commerce Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from MarketWatch.

For his part, Trump has never specifically tried to tout Tesla's stock, but he did give the company's electric vehicles a ringing endorsement. "It's a great product, as good as it gets," the president said of Tesla's vehicles during the recent White House photo op, where he vowed to buy a red Tesla sedan.

Early Wednesday, hours before Lutnick's Fox News appearance, his former company that he ran for four decades, Cantor Fitzgerald, raised its rating on Tesla to overweight from neutral, citing a number of upcoming events that could provide a boost to the electric-vehicle stock.

The upgrade note and Lutnick's media appearance championing Tesla were unrelated, according to the financial-services giant. "Our former Chairman no longer has any role - formal or informal - at our firm," a spokesperson for Cantor Fitzgerald told MarketWatch. "As always, all decisions regarding individual stock ratings and analysis are made solely by Cantor's Equity Research department."

Related: Elon Musk urges Tesla employees to hang on to their stock as he lays out 'sustainable abundance' vision

Lutnick's comments came just a day after former Democratic vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz mocked the recent drop in Tesla's share price. Tesla shares have plunged 52% from their record close of $479.86 on Dec. 17. Looking at the share price gives him "a little boost during the day," Walz said to laughter at a "People v. Musk" town-hall event Tuesday in Eau Claire, Wisc.

The dig prompted a searing response from Musk on X, his social-media platform. "Sometimes when I need a little boost, I look at the @JDVance portrait in the @WhiteHouse and thank the Lord," he wrote.

Musk's post has garnered more than 340,000 likes.

Related: Tesla's stock gets its lowest price target from a bull. It still implies 39% upside.

But even amid the flying barbs, Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna of California voiced his support for Tesla in an interview with CNN this week, and slammed vandalism against Tesla cars and the company.

"I am not going to root against Tesla - there are 20,000 people who work in my district who make a living off this," Khanna said. "They are building electric vehicles that ultimately are good for the climate. I have huge, huge problems with what Elon Musk is doing. Have the protest and the conversation and criticism of Musk; don't take it out on a company where you have workers, where you have engineers, where you have scientists, which are creating wealth for the country, which is helping the climate.

"Focus on what the problem is with Musk, don't focus on the wealth of a company," he added. Musk subsequently thanked Khanna on X for supporting the people and customers of Tesla.

Nonetheless, Musk's actions are turning off even some loyal Tesla investors, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday. One, who bought the company's shares about five or six years ago after purchasing a Tesla car in 2016, became increasingly skeptical of Musk as the CEO dived deeper into conservative politics. The investor, who described the display of Tesla cars at the White House as cringeworthy, liquidated all of his Tesla shares in March, the Journal reported.

Related: Here's how Tesla, 'DJT' and other Trump trades have fared since the inauguration

Musk's DOGE role has seen him slammed for the firings of federal workers, while he has also faced criticism for his outspoken social-media posts. Additionally, there are concerns that Musk's work in Washington is a distraction from his role as Tesla CEO.

In recent years, the polarization of American politics has touched many aspects of society, including the business sector - as seen by the antitrans backlash against Bud Light $(BUD)$ in 2023 and the more recent rollback of diversity, equity and inclusion programs at companies such as Meta Platforms Inc. $(META)$, Amazon.com Inc. $(AMZN)$, Ford Motor Co. $(F)$, Lowe's Cos. Inc. $(LOW)$ and Walmart Inc. $(WMT)$

But this political polarization is now moving from companies and their operations to the stock market, and Tesla has become uniquely emblematic of the shift. The company is firmly established as a so-called Trump trade, along with Truth Social operator Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. $(DJT)$ and crypto plays Robinhood Markets Inc. (HOOD), Coinbase Global Inc. $(COIN)$ and MicroStrategy Inc. $(MSTR)$

Read: Forget the 'Magnificent 7.' These 'MAGA 7' stocks have soared since Trump's election.

Among these Trump trades, 2025 has been particularly eventful for Tesla - marked by demand concerns, intensifying competition and a public response against Musk that has even seen the company's cars and charging stations attacked.

-James Rogers

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March 22, 2025 09:00 ET (13:00 GMT)

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