Public Support for Elon Musk Is Plummeting, Even Among Trump Voters

Billionaire — and newly powerful White House operative — Elon Musk has been ripping through the federal government like an angry new CEO.

But public opinion polling shows that support for Musk's rampage is falling at an astonishing rate, with even Trump's most ardent supporters now turning on him in incredible numbers.

As spotted by The Hill, a survey by The Economist and YouGov conducted days after the November election found overwhelming support for Musk among Trump voters, with a full 51 percent saying the billionaire should have "a lot" of influence over the incoming administration.

But after just a few weeks of seeing what that influence looks like in practice, those numbers look radically different. According to the latest version of the same poll, less than half of those Trump voters still think Musk should have "a lot" of influence, with large numbers pulling back to the position that he should have only "a little" — and, significantly, the proportion saying he should have "no influence at all" swelling from 8 percent to 13.

That disillusionment is shared by the rest of the country, by the way: after the election, 27 percent of Americans overall thought Musk should have significant sway over Trump, but that number has now crumbled to just 13 percent.

And that's while Trump's own approval rating appears to have actually gone up over the same period — meaning that the president is so far holding popularity with his base at the same time that they're turning on Musk and his "bull in a china shop" approach to governance.

The shift comes as DOGE staff have taken over the US Treasury's payments system and taken action to gut USAID, an independent international development agency that provides lifesaving care and feeds millions of children in need around the world.

The actual Republican political apparatus has had much less visibility than Musk, with even the White House seemingly having very little information about DOGE's operations, which many government officials believe to be illegal.

Meanwhile, protests are taking place around the nation, demanding accountability. Congressional efforts to subpoena Musk ended in a screaming match Wednesday evening, ABC News reports, highlighting heightened bipartisan tension over Musk's coup.

"Is this what you voted for?" a Department of Labor staffer told ABC. "Is this what you really want? Some unelected billionaire coming in and deciding to cut things he had never heard of until yesterday."

One thing's for sure: patience is wearing thin over Musk's antics.

"Whatever DOGE is doing, it is certainly not — not — what democracy looks like or has ever looked like in the grand history of this country," Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer wrote in a statement.

Whether the government's checks and balances will eventually hold Musk to account is anyone's guess. But Trump — who's notoriously sensitive to public perception — will have a hard time ignoring the fact his own supporters are rapidly turning on Musk.

More on the situation: Trump Loyalists Reportedly Furious With Elon Musk Over DOGE Coup