FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Debra Jacques’ arms were getting tired, but she was determined to wave her flag high: a big, yellow banana in the center of a red circle.

“It’s a banana republic,” Jacques, 66, said as she participated in a protest outside of a Fort Lauderdale Tesla showroom. “Because that’s where our country is right now, in shambles.”

Every Saturday for the last month, hundreds of Broward County residents have gathered outside of the Tesla showroom at 2829 N. Federal Highway to protest Elon Musk, the richest man on Earth and Tesla CEO, and his role in President Donald Trump’s administration. On Saturday, the raucous but peaceful crowd grew quickly from about 30 people at 1 p.m. to roughly 400 by 3 p.m., stretching for several blocks down the busy street.

And they don’t plan on stopping anytime soon.

“The plan is all gas no brakes until we see change,” said Kate Driscoll, a protest organizer.

Protesters say they’re fed up with Musk’s antics as an unelected White House official, his unprecedented slashing of government jobs and his right-wing views. Jacques was one of several Fort Lauderdale protesters who have attended the rally on Federal Highway several times. She came to the protest with her mother, who voted for Trump in 2016 but stopped supporting him after the Jan. 6 insurrection.

“(Musk) wasn’t approved through Congress, and he’s not from here. Why is he making all these decisions for us?” Jacques said of Musk. “We’re not afraid anymore, and we’re not in shock anymore. ... This is our country, not Elon Musk’s country.”

Drivers-by showed their approval by honking their horns, raising a thumbs up and clapping their hands. For hours, there was a steady symphony of anti-Musk chants and horn honking.

“Yeah! I know that’s right!” one man shouted from his car. “My heart is with you guys!”

Large demonstrations outside of Tesla dealerships have spread nationally as Musk’s popularity dips. About 53% of Americans have an “unfavorable opinion” of the tech billionaire, according to a recent CNN/SSRS poll.

The Fort Lauderdale Tesla protests have been organized by several South Florida organizations, Driscoll said, including local Democratic groups Truth Matters and Indivisible, a progressive group that is organizing a day of anti-Trump and anti-Musk protests and marches nationwide on April 5, including in Miami, Boca Raton and West Palm Beach.

Tesla did not respond to the Herald’s request for comment. Musk did go on X to claim that Indivisible and other groups behind protests across the nation were bankrolled by ActBlue, a Democratic fundraising platform, which he said is “currently under investigation for allowing foreign and illegal donations in criminal violation of campaign finance regulations.” Driscoll said Musk’s claim that Indivisible is backed by ActBlue is “completely false.”

Shares of Tesla have lost about 48% of their value since peaking on Dec. 17 and are down about 30% since the nationwide protests started, CNN reported. Musk owns about 411 million shares of Tesla, which makes up his primary source of paper wealth.

In response to Tesla’s stock market slump, Trump said boycotting the company was “illegal” and that he would label violence at Tesla showrooms as “domestic terrorism.” Trump and Musk staged a press conference of sorts with several Tesla cars parked in the White House driveway last week, a moment several Fort Lauderdale protesters made fun of.

For Driscoll, the president’s reaction is a sign that these protests are working.

“What I want people to know is that if (protesting) wasn’t making a difference, we wouldn’t have the president on the lawn of the White House trying to hustle Teslas and telling people how great they are,” Driscoll said, laughing. “The message clearly is working. They’re hearing us. It’s impacting the bottom line. We need to keep our foot on the gas.”

Besides protesting, organizers are encouraging people boycott the brand entirely by divesting from Tesla stock and trading in Tesla cars. Fort Lauderdale demonstrators made that message loud and clear on Saturday. “Trade it in!” protesters chanted at Tesla drivers passing by. “BOOOOOOOOOO!” they shouted at a Cybertruck.

‘Somebody needs to step up’

The protests’ popularity in Fort Lauderdale is indicative of Broward’s overall political leanings (during the several-hour protest, only one driver shouted “Go Trump” at the crowd). After the election, when Miami-Dade flipped red for the first time in decades and former-Vice President Kamala Harris narrowly won Palm Beach by less than one percentage point, Broward emerged as the only solid blue county in South Florida.

“It shows who Broward is,” said Brittanie Lee, 33, who attended the protest with her brother Aaron Lee. “This is a Democratic stronghold, and we’re going to stand up for that.”

The siblings said they hope to see more young people get involved in the demonstrations.

“Next year is going to be a big year with it being the midterm,” Aaron Lee, 32, said. “It’s to let people know about what’s going on and to let the local politicians know if they’re not doing their job, they should be primaried. If they’re not going to do their job, somebody needs to step up, that goes for Democrats and Republicans.”

While the protest was primarily focused on Musk, protesters expressed disagreement with the Trump administration as a whole, with signs that lambasted the president’s crusade against DEI initiatives, anti-LGBTQ policies, his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and threats of cuts to social safety net programs like Medicaid and Social Security.

Many protesters waved Ukrainian flags. One man wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh held a sign that read “FREE MAHMOUD!,” referencing the Columbia University protester who was detained by immigration officials despite his legal status as a green card holder.

Several signs explicitly mocked Trump and Musk. A man held up a sign that reads “ONE WAY TICKET TO MARS” with a cartoon image of the duo sitting on a rocket ship. Many others called Musk a Nazi, referencing the salute he performed at a Jan. 20 speech.

Martin Vidal, 32, was one of several protesters critical of Musk’s far-right rhetoric. While holding an anti-Nazi sign that read “WE BEAT ‘EM BEFORE ... WE’LL BEAT ‘EM AGAIN!,” Vidal said protesters care about upholding the Constitution.

“People are paying attention,” Vidal said. “They care about their country. They’re real patriots.”

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