A Toyota Prius is at the center of a feud between one of the Senate’s most vulnerable Democrats and the campaign arm of Senate Republicans.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee sent out a “BOMBSHELL” alert upon learning that Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), a third-generation dirt farmer, drives the hybrid vehicle when in Washington, D.C.
The organization also posted a video of Tester leaving the Capitol in the red Prius, which he’s driven for the past several years.
The third-term senator, who will face Tim Sheehy, former Navy SEAL and Republican nominee, this November in the deep-red state of Montana, fired back at the NRSC for being “a bunch of jackasses” and rattled off to reporters a list of gas-guzzlers he owns back Montana.
“I have a Prius that I drive around this town. You want to know what I drive in Montana?” Tester said at the Capitol. “I’ve got an ‘86 Chevy. I got a 2018 GMC. I got a 2018 Honda Ridgeline. I’ve got a Celica. I’ve got a Peterbilt. I’ve got a ‘67 International Truck. I’ve got a ‘96 International Truck. I’ve got a ‘78 GMC truck. Want me to keep going?”
“If [Republicans] want to talk about how much gas we use, maybe they should pay the diesel bill,” he continued. “I’m going to spend $10,000 this week on diesel filling my bulk tank that I use for my crop digger. Does that make it OK now?”
Tester has voted with Senate Republicans in unsuccessful attempts to roll back President Joe Biden’s electric vehicle mandate for passenger cars and trucks, but the NRSC used his remarks to accuse him of being an out-of-touch politician.
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“It says a lot about swamp creature Jon Tester that his only defense for driving a Prius is that he owns at least eight additional cars,” NRSC spokeswoman Maggie Abboud said. “A lot of people are now wondering how many cars multimillionaire career politician Jon Tester owns.”
A Tester spokesperson followed up Abboud’s critique by calling Tester’s restored car collection a “shared hobby” with his son, while Tester said of his cars, “That’s the way I get my wheat to market.”
