Musk's political baggage: Polls show Americans sour on Trump's most visible advisor
There's no denying that billionaire Elon Musk has been the most visible member of President Donald Trump's administration during Trump's first 10 weeks back in the White House. But with familiarity can come contempt, as recent polling shows the DOGE point man underwater with approval ratings.
Musk, the world's richest person and the chief executive of Tesla and SpaceX, has grabbed outsized attention as he's steered DOGE, the acronym for Trump's recently created Department of Government Efficiency, which has swept through federal agencies, rooting out what the White House argues was billions in wasteful federal spending.
The unit has also taken a meat cleaver to the federal workforce, resulting in a massive exodus of employees. The controversial moves by Musk and DOGE have triggered a slew of lawsuits in response.
But it's becoming increasingly clear that a majority of Americans are far from happy with Musk's moves. And two new national public opinion polls released this week offer further proof.
According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted March 31-April 2, Musk's favorable rating stands at 39% among Americans, with 57% viewing him in an unfavorable light.
And only 36% of respondents said the Trump administration was doing a competent job in reducing the number of federal employees. Even fewer — 31% — offered that the Trump administration was competently downsizing the federal government without affecting vital services.
According to a Marquette Law School national survey, 41% approve of the job Musk is doing at DOGE, with 58% giving him a thumbs down.
And Musk's personal favorability rating was in negative territory — at 38% favorable to 60% unfavorable — in the poll, which was conducted March 17-24.
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The two surveys are the latest to indicate Musk's poll numbers deeply underwater.
A majority — 54% — questioned in a Quinnipiac University survey conducted early last month said that Musk and DOGE are hurting the country, with just four in 10 saying their efforts are helping the country.
And according to a Fox News national poll conducted in mid-March, approval of Musk's work at DOGE was in negative territory, at 40% approval and 58% disapproval.
While nearly six in 10 questioned in the Fox News poll felt that a great deal or almost all of government spending is wasteful and inefficient, 51% opposed substantially shrinking the number of government employees, 56% disapproved of the job the Trump administration is doing identifying and reducing wasteful spending, and another 65% worried that not enough thought and planning has gone into the cuts.
Trump continues to praise Musk's efforts with DOGE - he's done a fantastic job. We found hundreds…of millions of dollars in fraud and abuse and waste and, they're still….going strong," the president said on Thursday.
But Republicans are starting to voice concerns about Musk's political liabilities. And Democrats have increasingly spotlighted and targeted Musk in their political attacks. And that was before he inserted himself front-and-center in this week's high-profile and historically expensive state supreme court election in Wisconsin.
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With a massive infusion of money from Democrat- and Republican-aligned groups from outside Wisconsin, which turned the race into the most expensive judicial election in the nation's history, the contest partially transformed into a referendum on Trump's sweeping and controversial moves during the opening months of his second tour of duty in the White House, and on Musk's efforts.
Dane County Circuit Court Judge Susan Crawford, the liberal-leaning candidate, ended up defeating Brad Schimel, the conservative-leaning Trump-backed candidate, a former state attorney general who currently serves as a state circuit court judge in Waukesha County, by roughly 10 points.
The large margin was not expected, in a race that was expected to be close, in a state that last November had an extremely tight margin in the presidential race.
Musk, who last year was Trump's top donor, dished out roughly $20 million in the Wisconsin race through aligned groups in support of Schimel.
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In a controversial move, Musk handed out $1 million checks at a rally in Green Bay on Sunday evening to two Wisconsin voters who had already cast ballots in the contest and had signed a petition to stop "activist judges."
Musk's lighting rod efforts in Wisconsin are being blamed for partially contributing to the 10-point shellacking Schimel suffered.
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The White House confirmed to Fox News on Wednesday that Musk will exit his role with DOGE on schedule later this spring, once his efforts are complete.
The White House, pushing back against reporting by Politico that Trump had told his inner circle and cabinet members that Musk would be "stepping back in the coming weeks from his current role," said that Musk had long been anticipated to step back from DOGE when his 130 days as a "special government employee" run out in May.
"We're in no rush. But there'll be a point at which time, you know, he's going to have to leave," Trump told reporters on Thursday, when asked when Musk would leave. "I would think a few months."