Oh boy, here we go—Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona has officially jumped on the Dump Tesla bandwagon, making a public spectacle out of ditching his electric car and replacing it with an all-gas Chevy Tahoe. And, of course, he made sure to document the whole thing on X because, in 2025, no political move is complete without a viral moment.
“Elon Musk kind of turned out to be an asshole,” Kelly said in the video, explaining why he no longer wanted to drive a car associated with the billionaire. Strong words! And just to really drive the point home, he traded in his Tesla for a very not-electric Chevy Tahoe Z71—an SUV that gets a whopping 15 miles per gallon in the city. If that seems like an odd choice for a guy who once championed green energy and reducing carbon footprints, well, you’re not alone in thinking that. But at this point, for some Democrats, owning Elon Musk is apparently more important than owning an EV.
NEW: Democrat Senator Mark Kelly shows off his new gas-guzzling Chevy Tahoe after selling his Tesla to protest Elon Musk.
“Here I am with my new ride Chevy. Good old Chevy Tahoe here in Washington, D.C got one of these in Tucson as well.”
All it took for Democrats to abandon… pic.twitter.com/tr4jnQ4ShG
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) March 16, 2025
Now, this move isn’t happening in a vacuum. Musk has been at the center of a growing political firestorm, thanks to his close ties to President Donald Trump and his role in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Tesla’s stock has taken a massive hit, protests are breaking out at showrooms, and the brand that was once the darling of environmentalists and tech lovers is now a lightning rod for political drama.
A lot of this boils down to Musk’s influence in Washington. As the de facto head of DOGE, Musk has been leading the charge on government downsizing, including the much-publicized dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). And he’s not exactly been subtle about it, proudly announcing that he “fed it into the woodchipper.” That’s the kind of language that makes some people cheer and others set their Teslas on fire.
Teslas are objectively amazing vehicles, and on that alone, have appeal.
People who accept the premise of manmade caused climate change (formerly known as global warming) would support Tesla.
The moralists are fake. Conservatives, liberals, it’s all performative.
— Cernovich (@Cernovich) March 15, 2025
Trump, on the other hand, is leaning in the opposite direction. Just earlier this week, he was showcasing Tesla vehicles at the White House, making it very clear where his loyalties lie.
Meanwhile, the fallout between Kelly and Musk has been brewing for weeks. Once upon a time, they got along—Kelly, a former NASA astronaut, had spoken highly of the private space industry, where Musk’s SpaceX reigns supreme. But that goodwill evaporated after Musk called Kelly a “traitor” for visiting Ukraine. Ouch.
Kelly didn’t take that lying down. “The only oath I can think of that maybe Elon has sworn is an oath to his own checking account, to his pocketbook, an oath, maybe, to ruining the lives of veterans,” he shot back in an MSNBC interview.
