The year started pretty well for Elon Musk. The presidential candidate he supported came into office, he led a new semi-official team to restructure and defund federal agencies, and Tesla stock was riding high (to the tune of a $1 trillion market cap). He was on top of the world! What could possibly go wrong? Well, according to a new Gallup poll, pretty much everything. Of all the so-called "newsmakers" that the pollster asked respondents about, Elon Musk came in dead last for favorability, at 28 points underwater.
For reference, the next three off the bottom were Benjamin Netanyahu (-23%), Marco Rubio (-16%), and someone named Donald Trump (-16%), who I don't think I've ever heard of. In January, Gallup had Musk at -4%, relatively close to evenly liked and disliked. So he's dropped a massive 24 points since his peak just a few months ago, a feat only matched by Rubio.
Not surprisingly given his (very vocal) politics, Musk is viewed dismally by Democrats, at a truly amazing -86%, only beaten out by that Trump at -91%. On the flip side, Republicans approve of Musk by +38%, which might seem good until you realize that's their least-liked of any right-leaning figure. Independents, being independents, are right in the middle, -34%.
Can't anyone bring our country together? Turns out, there is one American who can, although he's also Peruvian and Vatican: Pope Leo XIV, well above water across the ideological spectrum, netting out to +46%. If only he would take our readers' advice for his next Popemobile, he could get a perfect score.
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The Cost Of Losing A Popularity Contest
Musk's dramatic fall from popularity is bad for him, obviously, but it's also had ripple consequences on the Tesla brand and the wider car industry. That trillion-dollar market cap is long gone, Teslas have radically declined in resale value, and sales have taken a massive hit. Musk is promising that a pivot to robotaxis will save the day, but shareholders seem dubious on its prospects, given that they're suing the company over it.
Worse, and somewhat confoundingly, Musk's falling personal brand seems to have dragged down consumer interest in all EVs, not just Teslas. If nothing else, Musk has a gift for attaching himself to entire concepts; he doesn't just run a car company, he's a mascot for an entire class of vehicle. But that same superpower seems to have backfired here (well, EVs can't backfire, but, you get it). He was the face of the DOGE effort to transform the federal government, and more generally, of the onliniest wing of the American right. As those drew scrutiny, so did he.
So I'd say Musk was having a bad week, except that the board of Tesla just approved a $29 billion pay package for him, or over $1 billion per point of net unfavorability he has. Uh, being disliked is good, actually, and I hope you all say mean things about me. I'll wait for my check.
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