Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) received a wave of criticism on Friday when he announced plans to trade in his Tesla in protest of Elon Musk and President Donald Trump.
Kelly shared a video on X in which he pointed at his Tesla, saying he was driving to work in it for the final time. “When I bought this thing, I didn’t think it was going to become a political issue.”
He claimed that each time he has driven the electric vehicle (EV) in the past 60 days or so, “it reminds me of just how much damage Elon Musk and Donald Trump is doing to our country.”
The senator then said it was time for an upgrade. “Elon Musk kind of turned out to be an asshole. And I don’t want to be driving a car built and designed by an asshole.”
Social media users had all kinds of things to say about Kelly’s X post, with one person writing, “You are soooo brave! Look at you go! Captain America right here everyone.”
“Do you think Elon cares? He already made the profit off you, now you’re taking a wasteful loss on your purchase price…..just like a typical politician to waste money!” someone else commented.
Another person asked, “Can I have it? My truck broke down and I could really use a vehicle. Just sayin. Some Americans don’t have the choice to just give up their vehicle cause they don’t like the owner of the car company.”
“I’m sorry you hate America so much.. very sad,” one user replied, while someone else said, “But not giving up your X account, huh?”
“Lets see your climate friendly new Chevy Tahoe. Nice choice. Btw, did you fly private to Ukraine last week?” another user replied to the senator’s post.
Kelly’s announcement was one of the latest examples of leftists claiming to trade in or sell their Tesla EV(s) in protest of Musk’s Trump support. Musk has served as Tesla CEO since October 2008.
“Emboldened by celebrities, labeling Tesla vehicles as ‘Swastikars’ is now the left’s virtue signal of choice,” Breitbart News noted earlier this month, citing a report by the Guardian.
During a recent interview, Kelly alleged that the Musk-lead Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which targets government waste, has been ruining people’s lives, Breitbart News reported.
However, recent polling by Harvard CAPS / Harris found that DOGE’s mission under Musk was highly popular with the public as of February.
