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The president of the U.S. Oil & Gas Association said he recently bought a Tesla as a way of 'protesting against the protesters.'
USOGA President Tim Stewart told FOX Business that he purchased the Tesla Model 3 last week. He noted that the vehicle will be charged using electricity generated by natural gas.
Stewart said his EV purchase was also a way to show his support for Elon Musk and his work with the Trump administration.
"More than anything — yes, it was my way of protesting against the protesters," he said, referring to the mass protests happening ever since Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team started finding and eliminating wasteful spending within the federal government.
"A lot of Americans are viewing a veritable army of morons protesting requiring greater efficiency and accountability of a bloated and unaccountable federal government, which for decades has never been held to a standard of accountability or efficiency," Stewart added.
There were thousands of protests across the country last month, known as "Hands Off!" rallies. Hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets with signs and shouts against Musk and Trump. Before that, there were multiple incidents of people targeting Tesla vehicles, dealerships and charging stations by damaging them, keying them or lighting them on fire.
Stewart believes a lot of the protesters were paid to go out and read printed out information given to them to protest against Musk.
"While they are getting paid to wave signs and chant their printed out chants - I counter protested by opening my wallet," he said.
Stewart has already purchased an electric vehicle for his family. In 2022, he told Fox Business that he bought a Volkswagen ID.4. He said he wanted the electric vehicle so he could document his experience with it and then tell other families if it would be a great purchase for them too or not.
"We wanted to see how this goes with regards to where does this fit within the vehicle portfolio within our family," Stewart said. "I'm more than happy to tell people 'this works great for a typical family.'"