Elon Musk launched a Tesla Roadster over a row of parked cars and a semi-truck in Texas.
Ron DeSantis answered with a promise no California politician would ever dare make.
And the punchline he tacked on was aimed squarely at some of his most loyal voters.
Tesla's Flying Roadster Lifted Off At SpaceX's Texas Test Site
Musk unveiled the long-delayed Roadster on October 15 in a livestream from SpaceX's test site in McGregor, Texas.
First the car climbed a curved ramp, hung upside down on fan-powered suction, and flipped off the end like a skateboarder.
Then cold-gas thrusters built with SpaceX sent it sailing over the vehicles lined up below.
"Turns out the future does have flying cars," Musk said.
The fastest versions read like a fighter jet – zero to 60 in under a second and a top speed north of 230 mph.
Reserving one runs $50,000 for the street-ready Performance model and $250,000 for the thruster-equipped Thrust model, with production set for 2028.
The top-of-the-line Rocket version is invite-only, and Tesla admits it isn't approved for public roads.
Asked whether the thing was street legal, Musk joked that it depends on your street.
DeSantis Promised Florida Would Make Room for the Roadster
DeSantis reacted on X with a one-word verdict – wow.
When an X user asked him whether the Roadster would be street legal in Florida, DeSantis promised the state would make sure it is.
And he couldn't resist adding that the car "at a minimum could be used to leapfrog golf carts in the Villages."
Musk answered with a fire emoji.
The Villages is one of the largest retirement communities on the planet, and golf carts rule its roads.
It is also Trump country.
Sumter County, home to much of the Villages, gave Trump 68.3 percent of the vote in 2024.
Ahead of that election, Sen. Rick Scott rode at the front of a Trump golf cart parade more than 1,000 carts long – a record for the community.
When DeSantis jokes about leapfrogging Villages golf carts, he's ribbing his base, not mocking it.
Florida Said Yes to Driverless Cars While California Went After Tesla
DeSantis didn't wake up one morning and decide to love new car technology.
In 2019, he signed a law letting self-driving vehicles operate on every Florida road with no human on board.
He signed it at an autonomous vehicle test track in Auburndale and made clear he wanted the companies building that technology to move to Florida.
The law even freed people riding in self-driving cars from Florida's rules against texting behind the wheel.
California went the opposite direction.
In December 2025, a California judge ruled that Tesla's Autopilot and Full Self-Driving marketing misled customers, and state regulators threatened to suspend Tesla's sales license for 30 days.
The hover car has been a Musk obsession for years.
Back in 2017, Tesla promised Roadster deliveries by 2020 at a base price of $200,000.
A year after that reveal, SpaceX fired Musk's personal Roadster into space on a Falcon Heavy rocket, and it is still out there circling the sun.
In 2021, Musk told Joe Rogan he wanted the new Roadster to float about a meter off the ground, and swore a short drop would only cost you the suspension.
Tesla was hoping to ship it in 2022.
The date has now slid all the way to 2028.
Before the Rocket version ever touches a public road, it has to get past Washington's vehicle safety rules, state registration, and maybe even aviation regulators if it really flies.
Florida controls the registration piece, and DeSantis just told Musk where he stands on it.
The governor who signed the driverless car law is not about to let Tallahassee paper-pushers stand between Floridians and a flying car.
Gavin Newsom Threatened Tesla While DeSantis Offered It a Parking Spot
The golf cart line was a joke, but the message behind it was dead serious.
Gavin Newsom's California treats America's most talked-about car company like a defendant.
Ron DeSantis treats it like a neighbor he wants on his street.
Musk already packed Tesla's headquarters off to Austin in 2021 after California made doing business there a misery, and DeSantis just made clear the door is wide open in Florida too.
Florida already beat California to driverless cars, and SpaceX already sends rockets up from Florida's Space Coast.
California regulators threatened to shut off Tesla sales, and the governor of Florida offered the flying Roadster a lane next to the golf carts.
Sources:
- Landon Mion, "Tesla's New Roadster Takes Flight During Dramatic Unveiling at SpaceX Facility," Fox Business, October 15, 2026.
- Kyle Becker, "'Wow!' Ron DeSantis Drops Savage Joke About Elon Musk's New Flying Roadster," RedState, October 16, 2026.
- Kaylee Holland and Matt Leach, "The Villages, Florida: The New MAGA Headquarters?" Fox News, January 27, 2025.
- Noah Manskar, "Elon Musk Says He Wants New Tesla Roadster to Hover," Fox News, February 12, 2021.
- Associated Press, "Florida Law Lets Autonomous Vehicles Drive Without Humans," FOX 35 Orlando, June 13, 2019.
