PROTESTERS against billionaire Elon Musk’s purge of the US government under President Donald Trump demonstrated outside Tesla dealerships throughout the US and in some cities in Europe on Saturday.

The protesters were trying to escalate a movement targeting Tesla dealerships and vehicles in opposition to Mr Musk’s role as the head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency (Doge).

Mr Musk has gained access to sensitive data and closed entire agencies in his attempts to slash government spending. 

The biggest portion of Mr Musk’s estimated $340 billion (£262bn) fortune consists of his shares in the electric vehicle company, which he continues to run while also working alongside Mr Trump.

There were protests in California, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Maryland, Minnesota, Washington, Chicago, Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Seattle, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Colorado and the car maker's home state of Texas. 

Pictures posted on social media showed protesters brandishing signs such as “Fight the billionaire broligarchy.”

“We’re living in a fascist state,” said Dennis Fagaly, a retired high school teacher in Oakland, “and we need to stop this or we’ll lose our whole country.”

Anti-Musk sentiment extended beyond the US. 

In London a person in a Tyrannosaurus rex costume held another sign with a picture of Musk’s straight-arm gesture that said, “You thought the Nazis were extinct. Don’t buy a Swasticar.”