Jay O’Brien, a real estate broker in Liberty, was a technology fan of Elon Musk’s years before the world’s richest man turned Twitter into X, and under President Donald Trump, became both the reviled and admired federal-program-slashing leader of the Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE.

So, in November 2019, when Musk, as the owner of Tesla, announced he would produce the electric origami-angled, stainless steel Cybertruck, O’Brien plopped down his $100 deposit and didn’t mind waiting more than four years, until May 2024, for his truck to arrive.

“I thought this is awesome,” O’Brien said recently. “I’ve got to get one.”

Little did he anticipate the two-digit responses he would get as he drove down the road: Thumbs-up from many. Now, and more frequently, middle fingers.

Flipped off

“I tell people you feel like you’re a celebrity,” O’Brien said. “But I’m nothing. It’s the car. I understand in a small way what Travis (Kelce) and Taylor (Swift) feel like when they’re out and about, you know, with people looking and filming and pointing and doing whatever — giving you thumbs-up, or flipping you off.”

The negative reactions, Cybertruck owners said, have only increased with the growing and controversial involvement of Musk in the federal government.

Anti-Musk messages, bumper stickers on the rear of Teslas — such as “I bought this before Elon went crazy,” or “Shut Up Elon” or simply “Elon” with a red, canceling stripe through the name — have become common sights on the bumpers of conflicted Tesla owners nationwide.

On Monday, Tesla’s stock plunged more than 15% on the day, the biggest drop in the stock since 2020, and more than 50% off its December peak following Trump’s election in November. The S&P 500 index, in comparison, was down 2.5%. By Wednesday, Tesla’s stock had rebounded slightly.

Although Teslas remain the best-selling electric vehicles on the market (some 634,000 sold in 2024) Cox Automotive reported that of that number, only about 6%, just fewer than 40,000, were Cybertrucks. Trump on Tuesday said he would buy a Tesla to show his support.

Fans are fans. In Kansas City this week, a Facebook page dedicated to Tesla enthusiasts deemed it noteworthy to alert others of happenings at the dealership: “State Line has 9 cybertrucks … ready for delivery.”

Mike Garner, an Oracle employee in Johnson County, is certainly a fan.

The Cybertruck he and his spouse finally got eight months ago (they, too, ordered the vehicle, at $80,000 to $100,000, more than four years ago) was their third Tesla. They rent the truck out on Turo, the car rental marketplace, to help make payments.

Five months ago, Garner said, he recalled seeing one random person flash the vehicle the finger.

“Over the last, probably month,” he said, “I bet we get at least a couple of those every day when just driving around town.”

O’Brien knows that the negative Elon sentiments run deep. He tells a story of driving recently to a bar in downtown Kansas City to take part in a trivia night. Toward the end of the competition, the emcee asked the crowd to offer ideas for the following week’s trivia topic.

“Some people sent up topics like ‘Seinfeld,’ or ‘80’s Music,’” O’Brien said. “Then somebody puts up, ‘Idiots who Pose with their Cybertruck,’ and ‘People who Drive Mobile Trash Cans to Trivia Night,’ and ‘Who’s Driving the F-ing Cybertruck Across the Street in the Parking Lot?’ … I mean, that’s directly at me.

“The owner came over and was like, ‘I’m really sorry. The DJ, he’s pretty liberal and, you know, they don’t like Elon here.’ I was like, ‘Man, it’s no big deal. It’s totally fine.’ … I’ve had two, three people in traffic — you pull up next to — and they just flip you off.”

Love or hate Elon

O’Brien understands. Having been granted license to cut thousands of government jobs and reduce what he claims to be waste using a metaphorical chainsaw, Musk has become an integral part of Americans’ lives and the workings of government. Critics hold that Musk is wielding his power indiscriminately.

Meanwhile, Tesla’s electric vehicles — once viewed by some as quasi-symbols of an environmental future where vehicles rely on electricity rather than fossil fuels — have since become equated with the alliance between Musk and Trump, and the president’s “Make America Great Again” agenda.

“People love him or hate him,” O’Brien said of Musk.

The depth of those feelings, he said, were expressed this week on a Tesla internet forum that he follows. The title of the letter placed on a Cybertruck, “Sorry About Your Swasticar,” was topped by a Nazi symbol embedded in the Tesla logo.

“We know — you didn’t sign up for this,” the message began. “Once upon a time, Tesla’s were cool. They were futuristic, fast, and felt like a step toward a better world. No one could have predicted that Elon Musk would go full Nazi-apologist. And now, here you are, driving around in a rolling PR disaster.”

The letter goes on to urge Tesla owners to sell or trade in their cars or trucks for other electric vehicles that “won’t age like a bad Tweet.”

The irony is that, for O’Brien and Garner, their Cybertrucks are not about politics — liberal, conservative or MAGA.

Garner said he voted for Trump once, but not twice. As a business owner, O’Brien chose not to share who he voted for.

‘Nice car’

“I’m apolitical on that,” he said. “People try to make this (the Cybertruck) about that. But it’s not about that. Anybody who bought a car isn’t doing it to support Elon. People who sell it aren’t doing it because they’re mad at the government. I mean, you don’t buy a Chevy to support the factory workers or the CEOs. You buy it because it’s a nice car and it satisfies your needs.”

O’Brien and Garner said they bought theirs because they are tech enthusiasts. As such, they have long admired Musk.

“It really comes down to innovation and creativity — people trying to innovate and take people that next step — which is why I’m a big fan of Elon,” O’Brien said. “He’s controversial now, but, you know, trying to put someone on Mars, or trying to build a tunnel system, or trying to do these (rocket) ships. I mean, he’s thinking of things that people aren’t thinking about. I appreciate that.

“So when he said, ‘I’m going to make this electric truck thing, and I saw the first concepts, I was like, ‘Wow, this is great.’”

O’Brien has a model of the Cybertruck on his desk. He has the special Cybertruck coffee mug or “vessel.”

On a recent drive — both self-driving and manual, guided by nine cameras — he talked of how, when the truck’s back cover is rolled down, it can hold 3,500 pounds and tow more than 11,000. He pointed out how the vehicle can lower its height and raise it, allowing it to drive through water up to 3 feet deep without incident. Its body, made of steel, he said, is virtually dent-proof.

“None of it was political,” Garner said of all of his Tesla purchases. “From the driving perspective, it really is phenomenal. I liked the fact that they’re silent. I liked the fact that they were better for the environment, or at least would be overall. I liked the feel of it in terms of just instant acceleration.”

Thumbs-up

Despite growing negativity toward the vehicles, both said that the majority people they meet tend to like, or at least be fascinated by, the trucks — especially children.

“Ninety-nine percent of the feedback you get is positive,” said Dan Burke of Columbia, a statement reiterated by both Garner and O’Brien. Burke got his Cybertruck about one year ago.

“I drive it every day,” he said. “I own a construction company and, like, it pulls equipment. I sold my dually” — a heavy duty pickup with two sets of tires on the rear axle — “after I owned this for about two weeks. I got rid of my dually because there was no point.”

Burke, O’Brien and Garner came to know each other online through a Cybertruck page that O’Brien runs. In December, O’Brien put out a call to Cybertruck owners, asking them to be part of a special motorcade to escort home an 8-year-old boy from Liberty who was receiving treatment at Children’s Mercy Hospital.

Burke and Garner were among the four that showed, along with a line of cars from the Clay County Sheriff’s Office and other police. The boy is reportedly a huge Cybertruck fan.

“We rolled up and he was blown away,” O’Brien said.

“I’ve had it for a year,” Burke said, “and people still stop me at the store, or if I go to Home Depot or something. They want to look inside. They want to talk about it. You still have to plan extra time wherever you go because people still want to know about it.”

Burke added, “I’ve only gotten the finger twice. And one, the lady that did it, she goes, ‘I am so sorry. I don’t know what happened. I saw it and it shocked me, and that was the first thing I did.’”

At same time, Burke said, he also has another friend who, despite owning a Cybertruck, too, is not happy with the company’s founder.

“He’s got one of those anti-Elon stickers on it,” Burke said.

No matter the discord, Garner said, he still loves his Cybertruck.

“It’s not going to change our keeping it,” he said. “It’s not going to change our ownership. I do wish that we could all get along.

“What I’m really hopeful for is that we get six, eight months down the line, and then we go on to some other topic.”

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