Summary
Democratic Senator and former NASA astronaut Mark Kelly announced he’s getting rid of his Tesla, citing owner Elon Musk’s role in federal budget cuts and social program reductions.
Kelly said the car reminds him of “how much damage Elon Musk and Donald Trump is doing to our country” and stated he doesn’t want to drive a car “built and designed by an asshole.”
The decision follows a clash where Musk called Kelly a “traitor” over Ukraine-related comments.
Kelly’s move joins others like singer Sheryl Crow in boycotting Tesla, as Musk’s political involvement has triggered sales declines, boycotts, and vandalism against the company.
According to the article he’s had it since at least 2021. If you’re not paying attention to Musk (like, you know, the vast majority of people) you wouldn’t think anything of Musk in 2021. And in the first place were there other strong players in the EV market in 2021?
In 21 you could have gotten some of the first Ford Mustang MachEs to come off the line, if you were lucky. Chevy was doing ok with the bolt, but I’ve never personally liked the style of the bolt. Leafs were another OK model specifically for commuting, but IIRC Kelly lives in Tucson and if he was making regular trips to Phoenix a leaf wouldn’t have cut it. Polestar was available, but relatively unknown. And I think a few luxury brands had EVs at that point. So yes there were other EV players, but “strong” is a subjective term, unless you were doing a fair amount of research you likely wouldn’t have known about them.
Only two of what you mentioned are American brands, which is probably pretty relevant for a Senator to consider.
Yes, Musk didn’t go full Trumpet until roughly 2023, though signs of his shittery were apparent even in '21 if you paid any attention at all. The whole “pedoguy” thing happened in 2018. But yes, most people wouldn’t have known about that in the torrent of news that came out in between 2018 and 2021.
I’m just glad that today, swastikars are a whole lot less desirable than Teslas were in '21. :)
Most people? We are talking about an active politician. He was aware. Musk bought Twitter in April 2022, but he was being a full-on turd way before that.
Sorry, I noticed it was the guy before you (@NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io ) who said that a Democratic Senator and astronaut wouldn’t know Musk was a scumbag.
Riiiiiight.
Why the hell would an active politician care about 2021 Musk? The guy is a senator he likely had better things to worry about. And in the first place, why are you assuming he bought it in 2021? He had already bought it by 2021, but it could easily be from even before that. And again, were there any good alternatives in the EV market?
Do you hear yourself?
Whatever - Hey, you’re completely right, you win the argument. He HAD to buy that Tesla. He was too busy engaging in politics to notice the world’s richest man becoming a huge right-wing influencer!
I wish he was here right now so I could apologize to him personally for criticizing him buying that piece of shit fad car back in the day.
… Yikes. You do not handle having your preconceptions challenged at all gracefully, and it really damages the credibility of any support you lend to a movement when you behave like this.
Well you’re right. I have terrible people skills. I become aggressive when I perceive myself (or my views) being attacked. I have a lot of problems making myself understood, online and in real life.
Your assessment of my personality is spot on. I am in therapy. Should I just hide away and never engage because sometimes I get wrapped around the axle? Shit, I don’t know.
I’m sorry everyone. I know not what I do. I will not speak on this thread again.