--- title: "Elon Musk Has Become Toxic Waste to the Average Person, New Poll Shows" description: "A new Associated Press-backed poll has shown that billionaire Elon Musk's popularity is declining rapidly." date: "2025-04-28" modified: "2025-04-28" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/elon-musk-associated-press-poll-popularity" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "doge" - "donald trump" - "elon musk" - "tesla" --- # Elon Musk Has Become Toxic Waste to the Average Person, New Poll Shows ![A new Associated Press-backed poll has shown that billionaire Elon Musk's popularity is declining rapidly.]() *\Image: MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images\* A new [*Associated Press*-backed poll]() has shown that billionaire Elon Musk's popularity is declining rapidly. According to the survey, which was conducted in partnership with the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, a measly 33 percent of US adults now view Musk as "very or somewhat favorable" as of April — an incredible reversal, since before his hard turn into bitter reactionary politics, he was almost universally beloved. Even respondents who identified as Republican are following the trend, sinking from 21 percent to 25 percent unfavorable between December and April, indicating even the voter base Musk [has been pandering to]() since president Donald Trump's reelection campaign are starting to get tired of his relentlessly boorish behavior. ![]() The poll corroborates [previous findings]() that Musk's popularity has fallen off a cliff after he took a proverbial — and [literal]() — chainsaw to the government budget. His careless and [flawed approach]() has proven extremely unpopular, threatening to cut off [millions of people from Social Security](), leaving [millions more]() at the risk of hunger and starvation, and [ripping out]() funding for popular initiatives like lifesaving medical research. Besides tanking favorability, the vast majority of US adults also say that Elon Musk has "too much" influence on the US federal government, according to the latest poll. Musk's embrace of extremist views, including the time he made [multiple fascist salutes](), joked [about the Holocaust](), and [appeared]() at several far-right nationalist party meetings in Europe, has also proven extremely divisive. His behavior has [inspired an entire movement]() targeting his EV maker Tesla, with countless largely peaceful protesters targeting hundreds of dealerships in and outside of the United States. The drop in Musk's popularity is stunning, especially considering the sheer amount of goodwill the entrepreneur had attracted earlier in his career. Once beloved for revolutionizing the automotive and space industry, Musk has quickly become one of the most alienating and contentious personalities in the world in a matter of years. According to polling averages [aggregated by statistician Nate Silver](), Musk's net favorability has plunged from a glowing +29 in 2016, when Trump was elected the first time, to his current depths, in which he's seen as a paragon of out-of-touch wealth and greed. "He thinks you run a government like you run a business," said a respondent and 75-year-old retiree from Pennsylvania, per the *AP*. "And you don’t do that. One is for the benefit of the people, and the other is for the benefit of the corporation." **More on Musk:** *[Fed Up Trump Officials Are Calling Musk "Crazy Uncle Elon"]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()