Republican enthusiasm for Musk cools after his feud with Trump

Elon Musk listens as President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, May 30, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

WASHINGTON — Tech billionaire Elon Musk has lost some of his luster with Republicans since his messy public falling-out with President Donald Trump last week, a new survey finds.

Fewer Republicans view Trump’s onetime government efficiency bulldog “very favorably” compared with April, according to the poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Though most Republicans continue to hold a positive view of Musk, their diminished fervor suggests his vocal opposition to Trump’s signature spending and tax cut legislation, and Musk’s subsequent online political and personal taunts, may have cost him some enthusiasm within the party.

“Some things have happened lately that have changed how I feel about him a little,” said Alabama Republican Katye Long, whose feelings for Musk have cooled to “somewhat favorable.”

“I liked what he was doing when he was helping. But now I feel like he’s kind of hurting,” said the 34-year-old automotive component factory employee and mother of three from Woodstock, Alabama. “I also don’t feel like he matters that much. He’s not actually part of the government. He’s just a rich guy who pushes his opinions.”

Musk’s overall popularity hasn’t shifted, the poll found, and most of the shift among Democrats and Republicans was between “very” and “somewhat” strong opinions. Americans are less likely to view him favorably than his electric vehicle company, Tesla. That said, about half of Americans have a negative opinion of Tesla, highlighting another challenge for Musk when the company has dropped in value and been the target of protests in the U.S. and Europe. About one-third have a favorable view of Tesla, while about two in 10 don’t know enough to say.

Republicans’ enthusiasm waned, but so did Democrats’ antipathy

Even a subtle shift in the intensity of Republicans’ feelings about Musk could be important as the electric car and aerospace mogul weighs a second political act after spending about US$200 million in service of Trump’s 2024 election effort.

After decrying the GOP’s massive tax and budget policy bill as “a disgusting abomination,” Musk wrote on X, his social media platform, “In November next year, we fire all politicians who betrayed the American people.”

The poll suggests the messy feud with Trump may have rubbed some Republicans the wrong way, as the share of Republicans viewing Musk as “very favorable” has dropped from 38 per cent in April to 26 per cent now. At the same time, antipathy toward Musk among Democrats has waned a little. About two-thirds, 65 per cent, of Democrats have a very negative view of Musk, down slightly from about three-quarters, 74 per cent, in April.

Musk’s bitter back-and-forth with Trump has business implications, too. Tesla was already struggling with a backlash against Musk’s association with Trump. Sales across Europe plunged by half in May, even as growth in the electric car market accelerated. Then the company’s shares plunged in value when Musk began sparring publicly with the president.

Victoria Brown, of Kansas City, Kansas, rated Tesla “somewhat unfavorable” because she objects to how Trump is conducting his administration and links the company’s owner with the president’s agenda.

“I don’t favor Trump. So, pretty much the fact that they have been working together means I don’t care too much for Tesla,” said Brown, 63, a political independent and an insurance agent.

Musk’s overall approval remains unchanged

While the intensity of people’s feelings about Musk may have changed, their overall opinions have not. About one-third of U.S. adults have a favorable opinion of Musk, compared with about six in 10 who hold an unfavorable view, while about one in 10 don’t know enough to say. That’s unchanged from the April poll.

The new poll was conducted from June 5 to 9, after Musk left his government role and began attacking Trump’s marquee legislative priority.

Musk’s public clash with Trump began four days after Trump honored Musk effusively during an Oval Office event discharging him from duties as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency.

After first tearing down the budget bill, Musk two days later complained he had never seen the language, and he aimed his fire at Trump, suggesting the president didn’t sufficiently appreciate the role Musk assumed as the chief benefactor to Trump’s reelection effort.

“Without me, Trump would have lost the election, Dems would control the House and Republicans would be 51-49 in the Senate,” Musk wrote. “Such ingratitude.”

Musk went on to claim without evidence that the federal government was concealing information about Trump’s association with infamous pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Musk deleted the post, and early Wednesday he stepped back from his attacks on Trump, writing on X that he regretted some of his posts and they “went too far.”

Views of Tesla are far more negative than other car companies

Tesla endured a difficult first quarter in 2025, with its sales falling while the world’s leading electric car manufacturer faced protests in showrooms. The new poll also shows that Tesla is viewed far more negatively than some of its peers — notably, Ford, Toyota and General Motors.

Only about one-third of U.S. adults have a “very” or “somewhat” favorable view of Tesla. About half of U.S. adults have an unfavorable opinion of Tesla, including 30% of Republicans. Democrats, at 66%, are more than twice as likely as Republicans to have a negative view of Tesla. But even among Republicans, Tesla is viewed less favorably than the other brands.

Marisa Mills is no Musk fan. The 41-year-old teacher from Oakland, California, objects to his association with Trump and what the Democrat sees as their misguided notion that government is always well served by operating like a business.

And yet she was once proud to have Tesla building cars in her own county. She soured on the company in 2020, when Musk sued Alameda County over its workplace restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic, before he moved the company to Texas in 2021.

“My government is supposed to serve the people, not his company. We were all glad to see him go,” Mills said. “I do regret that we now have feelings of regret for the Tesla car product. We were once so proud.”

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The AP-NORC poll of 1,158 adults was conducted June 5-9, using a sample drawn from NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for adults overall is plus or minus 4 percentage points.

Thomas Beaumont And Linley Sanders, The Associated Press