The legend of the ‘Tesla killer’ is not a myth anymore. It came true, and it’s not an electric vehicle from a legacy automaker or a new EV startup; it’s Elon Musk, Tesla’s CEO. In the early days of Tesla, the media loved to use the term ‘Tesla killer’ every time a legacy automaker launched a new EV.

The billionaire’s closeness to Donald Trump and support for far-right causes have prompted a backlash, but Tesla’s sales are sinking for other reasons too.

Tesla now faces headwinds from the president Musk helped elect. Trump, a frequent EV critic, has called for scrapping EV subsidies and policies that have added billions of dollars to Tesla’s bottom line. Musk has dismissed the impact on Tesla of losing subsidies, saying rivals would suffer more.