Democrat Sen. Mark Kelly announced Friday that he’s ditching his Tesla after Elon Musk called him a “traitor.”
He also made a not-so-subtle jab at the tech billionaire. “I don’t want to be driving a car built and designed by an a--h--e,” he said in a video he posted to X.
“I bought a Tesla because it was fast like a rocket ship,” Kelly commented above the clip, possibly trolling Musk about his failed SpaceX launch last week when his rocket exploded middair. “But now every time I drive it, I feel like a rolling billboard for a man dismantling our government and hurting people.”
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He said his new ride’s coming soon. “So Tesla, you’re fired!” he said.
The senator got into an online feud with Musk, Trump’s “special government employee” after Kelly posted on X in support of Ukraine. The Democrat had described his heartbreaking trip to the war zone where he saw medical workers caring for a wounded soldier named Anton.
His post was a direct attack on Trump’s recent refusal to call Russia the aggressor in the war and decision to blame Ukraine instead.
“There’s thousands of Ukrainian soldiers just like Anton, fighting to protect their home and their people from Russia’s invasion,” he wrote. “But now President Trump is risking each of them and their families to side with the war criminal Putin.”
He also told the president to “skip a round of golf and visit Ukraine!”
Musk reacted bitterly. “You are a traitor,” he told the decorated Navy veteran and former astronaut.
Kelly shot back at Musk almost immediately. “If Elon thinks standing with Ukraine makes me a traitor, then he knows nothing about keeping America safe,” he posted on March 11. He added that he “swore an oath” to protect the Constitution when he was just 22, but Musk had only sworn to protect himself and “his billionaire buddies.”
His criticism comes as anti-Musk protestors are both boycotting and vandalizing the auto company. Trump, who viewed, tried and bought a Tesla this week when Musk brought several to his front door, said that the demonstrators will “go through hell” and even face domestic terrorism charges.
Kelly’s looking forward to his new ride and said he’s ready for an “upgrade.”
“It’s time to get rid of it,” he said. “Elon Musk kind of turned out to be an a--h--e.”
