A new survey reveals that Americans hold comparable views of President-elect Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk, who is an ally as Trump prepares for his return to the White House. The poll conducted by the Associated Press-NORC Research Center, released on Tuesday, indicates that 41% of respondents view Musk favorably, whether “very” or “somewhat.” In a similar vein, 36% expressed a favorable opinion of Trump.
Conversely, the survey shows that 51% of participants view Musk unfavorably, while a higher 60% feel the same way about Trump. Musk has been a vocal supporter of Trump during the 2024 White House race, reportedly investing at least $250 million to help secure a second term for the former president, who is dealing with multiple legal issues, as detailed in recent filings from the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
New survey reveals Americans split on views of Trump and Musk ahead of 2024 election
As the wealthiest individual globally and leader of several companies, Musk actively campaigned for Trump, promoting preferred candidates on X, the social media platform he acquired in 2022. After Trump’s victory in November, he appointed Musk and his former GOP primary rival, Vivek Ramaswamy, to head a new initiative called the “Department of Government Efficiency,” aimed at restructuring federal agencies, reducing regulations, and eliminating wasteful spending.
Data from previous polls indicates that Musk’s favorability among Democrats who declined during his support for Trump. An NBC News poll from September revealed that only 6% of Democrats had a positive view of Musk, while a striking 79% expressed negative sentiments. Conversely, 62% of Republicans viewed him positively, with just 14% holding a negative opinion.
The NBC survey also found that independent voters were divided, with 31% reporting positive feelings about Musk while 36% expressed negative perceptions. The AP-NORC poll was based on interviews with 1,251 American adults conducted from December 5 to 9 and has a margin of error of 3.7 percentage points.
