A lot of the American public is souring on billionaire Elon Musk and the heavy affect he seems to wield over the federal authorities.
Fifty-two % of registered voters have an unfavorable view of Musk, whereas simply 39% view him favorably, in accordance with new information from the polling agency Civiqs. That features a stark gender divide: Somewhat beneath half of male voters (45%) have a positive view of Musk in contrast with 57% of feminine voters who view him unfavorably.
Greater than three-quarters (79%) of Republicans held the X proprietor in excessive regard, whereas 95% of Democrats aren’t a fan. Independents lean towards Democrats’ opinion too, with 52% having an unfavorable view of Musk and solely 36% having a positive view.
Nevertheless, there was a time when Musk wasn’t practically as a lot within the public eye and Individuals had a comparatively optimistic view of him. However turning X right into a far-right echo chamber and cozying up to President Donald Trump appears to have sullied his picture. Within the span of some months, Musk dunked on a latest synthetic intelligence enterprise Trump introduced and helped defeat a government spending bill in Congress. You’d suppose this is able to be sufficient to maintain him busy, however Musk additionally managed to piss off a few of Trump’s largest allies, together with former adviser Steve Bannon, who seems to really despise him.
“He’s a really evil man, a really dangerous man,” Bannon mentioned of Musk in January. “I made it my private factor to take this man down.”
A January survey from The Associated Press/NORC Center for Public Affairs Research exhibits how a lot Musk’s latest strikes have harmed his public notion. In accordance with the ballot, greater than half of Individuals (52%) had an unfavorable opinion of Musk, in contrast with 36% who seen him favorably, placing him 16 factors underwater. Examine that to a December survey from the identical pollster that confirmed Musk’s favorability solely 10 factors underwater.
Different latest polls again this up:
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A Wall Street Journal ballot had Musk’s favorability 11 factors underwater (40% favorable, 51% unfavorable).
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A Marist College poll for NPR and PBS News discovered Musk 9 factors underwater (37% favorable, 46% unfavorable) amongst registered voters.
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Then there’s a Quinnipiac University poll from December that had Musk 5 factors underwater (39% favorable, 44% unfavorable). Examine that with a Quinnipiac survey carried out two years prior, in December 2022, which confirmed Musk being barely above water (36% favorable, 33% unfavorable).
Maybe Individuals dislike Musk as a result of he’s linked to Trump, who’s hellbent on pushing by unpopular issues like tariffs on merchandise from Canada and Mexico.
Then once more, in addition they may not like Musk’s Division of Authorities Effectivity, an advisory commission with no direct power over the federal authorities. It is sensible that Individuals are on edge about Musk’s well-publicized guarantees to slash federal spending. In any case, a Data for Progress poll for the Progressive Change Institute exhibits most probably voters are very involved about DOGE’s menace to Social Safety, Medicare, Medicaid, the Reasonably priced Care Act, veteran’s well being care applications, and meals help for low-income households.
On high of that, Musk appears to wield plenty of governmental energy for somebody who was by no means elected to public workplace. And several other polls present that individuals don’t like how much influence he appears to have over Trump and Republicans.
The December survey from Quinnipiac additionally confirmed that 53% of voters disapprove of Musk’s main function within the Trump administration. However there’s a partisan break up. Whereas 90% of Democrats are against his function within the administration, 81% of Republicans approve of it. (Independents are largely in opposition to Musk’s function as properly, with 57% disapproving.)
Different polls have discovered comparable outcomes. As an example, The Wall Avenue Journal’s ballot discovered that half of voters suppose it’s a foul thought for Musk to advise Trump on spending payments and different issues, whereas simply 39% say it’s a good suggestion for him to take action.
What’s extra, Knowledge for Progress discovered that 51% of possible voters consider Musk will use DOGE to his personal profit as a substitute of creating the federal government extra environment friendly. Whereas Democrats (74%) had been extra possible than unbiased or third-party voters (49%) suppose this, Republicans expressed considerations too. An eyebrow-raising 29% of Republicans agree that Musk will use DOGE to “redirect extra authorities sources in the direction of himself and weaponize the federal authorities to undermine his enterprise rivals.”
These mixed information factors recommend that the political center is over Musk. And even some who don’t but despise him are cautious of what he’ll do as Trump’s “first buddy.”
And for Trump, Musk would possibly turn into a giant legal responsibility if the bottom activates him much more than they have already got.
