Elon Musk calls shelter-in-place measures 'forcibly imprisoning' the population on earnings call

Tesla's earnings call Wednesday got heated when Elon Musk described as “fascist” the social-distancing measures in effect across the country.

“This is not democratic, this is not freedom. Give people back their g*d*** freedom,” railed the CEO.

Musk also cautioned that the shelter-in-place orders in California, where Tesla has a major factory, could pose a threat to the company. The car factory, in the San Francisco Bay Area, was forced to close in late-March to help mitigate the spread of the virus.

“We are a little bit worried about not being able to resume production in the Bay Area, and that should be identified as a serious risk,” Musk said on the call. “The extension of the shelter-in-place or frankly what I would call it, forcibly imprisoning people in their homes against all their constitutional rights … will cause great harm, not just to Tesla, but many companies.”

He added that shelter-in-place orders are “not why people came to America or built this country.”

Tesla posted a quarterly gain of 32%, but the pandemic shutdown may require the company to cut production by more than 500,000 vehicles in 2020.