He's used his public profile as a Barnum-esque celebrity to bury and bully away legitimate criticism of him and his companies' on any number of fronts, from worker mistreatment to the dangerous state of his self-driving program.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/what-its-like-when-elon-musks-...

https://www.revealnews.org/article/tesla-says-its-factory-is...

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-tesla-racism-lawsuit-2...

https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/12/17229518/tesla-ntsb-autop...