A foul Musk is starting to irritate voters

Much of the American public is souring on billionaire Elon Musk and the heavy influence he appears to wield over the federal government. 

Fifty-two percent of registered voters have an unfavorable view of Musk, while just 39% view him favorably, according to new data from the polling firm Civiqs. That includes a stark gender divide: A little under half of male voters (45%) have a favorable view of Musk compared with 57% of female voters who view him unfavorably. 

More than three-quarters (79%) of Republicans held the X owner in high regard, while 95% of Democrats aren’t a fan. Independents lean toward Democrats’ opinion too, with 52% having an unfavorable view of Musk and only 36% having a favorable view.

However, there was a time when Musk wasn’t nearly as much in the public eye and Americans had a relatively positive view of him. But turning X into a far-right echo chamber and cozying up to President Donald Trump seems to have sullied his image. In the span of a few months, Musk dunked on a recent artificial intelligence venture Trump announced and helped defeat a government spending bill in Congress. You’d think this would be enough to keep him busy, but Musk also managed to piss off some of Trump’s biggest allies, including former adviser Steve Bannon, who seems to really despise him.

“He is a truly evil guy, a very bad guy,” Bannon said of Musk in January. “I made it my personal thing to take this guy down.”

A January survey from The Associated Press/NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows how much Musk’s recent moves have harmed his public perception. According to the poll, more than half of Americans (52%) had an unfavorable opinion of Musk, compared with 36% who viewed him favorably, putting him 16 points underwater. Compare that to a December survey from the same pollster that showed Musk’s favorability only 10 points underwater.

Other recent polls back this up:

• A Wall Street Journal poll had Musk’s favorability 11 points underwater (40% favorable, 51% unfavorable).

• A Marist College poll for NPR and PBS News found Musk 9 points underwater (37% favorable, 46% unfavorable) among registered voters.

• Then there’s a Quinnipiac University poll from December that had Musk 5 points underwater (39% favorable, 44% unfavorable). Compare that with a Quinnipiac survey conducted two years prior, in December 2022, which showed Musk being slightly above water (36% favorable, 33% unfavorable).

Perhaps Americans dislike Musk because he’s linked to Trump, who is hellbent on pushing through unpopular things like tariffs on products from Canada and Mexico. 

Then again, they also might not like Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, an advisory commission with no direct power over the federal government. It makes sense that Americans are on edge about Musk’s well-publicized promises to slash federal spending. After all, a Data for Progress poll for the Progressive Change Institute shows most likely voters are very concerned about DOGE’s threat to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, veteran’s health care programs, and food assistance for low-income families. 

On top of that, Musk seems to wield a lot of governmental power for someone who was never elected to public office. And several polls show that people don’t like how much influence he seems to have over Trump and Republicans. 

The December survey from Quinnipiac also showed that 53% of voters disapprove of Musk’s major role in the Trump administration. But there’s a partisan split. While 90% of Democrats are opposed to his role in the administration, 81% of Republicans approve of it. (Independents are largely against Musk’s role as well, with 57% disapproving.)

Other polls have found similar results. For instance, The Wall Street Journal’s poll found that half of voters think it’s a bad idea for Musk to advise Trump on spending bills and other matters, while just 39% say it’s a good idea for him to do so. 

What’s more, Data for Progress found that 51% of likely voters believe Musk will use DOGE to his own benefit instead of making the government more efficient. While Democrats (74%) were more likely than independent or third-party voters (49%) think this, Republicans expressed concerns too. An eyebrow-raising 29% of Republicans agree that Musk will use DOGE to “redirect more government resources towards himself and weaponize the federal government to undermine his business rivals.”

These combined data points suggest that the political middle is over Musk. And even some who don’t yet despise him are wary of what he’ll do as Trump’s “first buddy.”

And for Trump, Musk might become a big liability if the base turns on him even more than they already have.

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