Elon Musk Calls Bay Area's Shelter-In-Place Order 'Fascist' In Vulgar Conference Call Rant

Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk has never been one to shy away from sharing his opinions, and that was as evident as ever during the company's first-quarter earnings conference call on Wednesday night.

Musk denounced the Bay Area's shelter-in-place order as "fascist" during an expletive-filled talk about the electric automaker's production facilities.

Ok here is the full rant from Elon Musk on today's earnings call as I could transcribe it pic.twitter.com/I6wCIbqaIV

— Kari Paul (@kari_paul) April 29, 2020

$TSLA CEO @elonmusk blasts shelter in place orders: "To say that they cannot leave their house and they will be arrested if they do, this is fascist. This is not democratic, this is not freedom, give people back their god damn freedom."

— Phil LeBeau (@Lebeaucarnews) April 29, 2020

The call briefly cut out for a few moments following Musk's comments.

Early Wednesday morning, Musk tweeted "FREE AMERICA NOW" as he agreed with a follower on the scariest thing about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic not being the virus itself but seeing how easily Americans "bow down & give up their blood bought freedom to corrupt politicians who promise them safety."

Tesla had to shut down its Fremont and New York manufacturing facilities for production under shelter-in-place orders issued by authorities to curb the spread of the coronavirus last month. A new shelter in place order for the area was announced this week.

"[S]even Bay Area jurisdictions released a new shelter-in-place order mandating that people stay home through May — with some key changes that will slightly loosen restrictions on daily life," according to the East Bay Times.

"The order...will take effect Monday, the same day that the current shelter-in-place plan expires. Under the new rules, existing requirements that people practice social distancing and leave home for only essential business and travel will remain in place, but some outdoor activities and business will be allowed to reopen."

See Also: Tesla Reports Big Q1 Earnings Beat, Near-Term Profitability 'On Hold'

Tesla's stock surged in Wednesday's after-hours trading session following a strong earnings beat. The company reported adjusted first-quarter earnings of $1.24 per share, which beat the analyst consensus estimate that called for a loss of 36 cents. The company reported quarterly sales of $5.985 billion, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $5.9 billion.

"While near-term profit guidance is currently on hold, we believe we will achieve industry leading operating margins an profitability with capacity expansion and localization plans underway," the company said in its release.

Photo credit: Public domain.