Quick wins for a faster PC:
Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Polling from 2025 found that unfavorable views of Elon Musk were common, but it does not show that a huge number of people who once liked him came to detest him. The surveys measured different groups at different times, not the same people’s changing opinions. The strongest supported conclusion is narrower: Musk’s unfavorable ratings were high, and views were sharply divided by party.
What the polls can—and cannot—establish
A poll can estimate how many people in a surveyed population hold a favorable or unfavorable view at a particular time. When a later poll reports a lower favorable share, that change in the overall population does not identify which individuals changed their minds. The cited trend results are separate snapshots, not a longitudinal study tracking the same respondents from liking Musk to disliking him.
The word “detest” also goes beyond the response categories in the central trend polls, which asked about favorable or unfavorable impressions. Personal favorability, whether someone likes Musk as a person, and approval of his job performance are related but distinct measures.
What the national polls found in 2025
| Poll and field dates | Population and question | Result |
|---|---|---|
| AP-NORC, June 5–9, 2025 | 1,158 U.S. adults surveyed online and by telephone through NORC’s probability-based AmeriSpeak panel; impression of Musk | 57% unfavorable. The overall margin of sampling error was ±4.0 percentage points. AP-NORC said the result was consistent with its April poll. |
| AP-NORC, April 17–21, 2025 | 1,260 U.S. adults surveyed through AmeriSpeak; favorable or unfavorable opinion | 33% favorable and 57% unfavorable; overall margin of sampling error ±3.9 points. In January, the reported shares were 36% favorable and 52% unfavorable. |
| Quinnipiac, June 11, 2025 | Registered voters; whether their opinion of Musk was favorable or unfavorable, or they had not heard enough about him | 30% favorable, 57% unfavorable, 10% had not heard enough, and 3% refused. |
| Pew Research Center, Jan. 27–Feb. 2, 2025 | 5,086 U.S. adults in the American Trends Panel; favorability toward Musk | 73% of Republicans and Republican leaners viewed him favorably, compared with 12% of Democrats and Democratic leaners. Unfavorable views were 24% among Republicans and 85% among Democrats. |
| Ipsos for ABC News and The Washington Post, April 18–22, 2025 | U.S. adults in Ipsos’s probability-based KnowledgePanel; approval of Musk’s performance in the Trump administration | 57% disapproved, roughly one in three approved, and 9% had no opinion or skipped. This measured job-performance approval, not whether respondents liked Musk as a person. |
These figures should not be treated as interchangeable. The polls differed in dates, populations, wording, sampling and weighting. Their margins of sampling error also mean that small differences between estimates are not necessarily meaningful.
The Tool Desk
Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →#1 Best Overall
Did favorable views fall?
Quinnipiac’s registered-voter trend table shows a decline in favorable responses across its listed waves: 39% in December 2024, 38% in February 2025, 36% in March, and 30% in June. Over those dates, its unfavorable share rose from 44% to 57%. That is evidence of a change in the aggregate results for Quinnipiac’s surveyed registered voters—not proof that the same people moved from favorable to unfavorable.
AP-NORC’s results tell a more stable story between its two spring 2025 waves: 57% of adults had an unfavorable impression in both April and June, and the organization described the June result as consistent with April. Its April report compared those results with January, when 52% were unfavorable and 36% favorable; it reported that Democrats and independents had become more negative while Republican favorability remained steady.
Rank #2
Why party affiliation matters
Pew’s January–February 2025 survey found a wide partisan split: favorable views were far more common among Republicans and Republican leaners than among Democrats and Democratic leaners. That divide helps explain why a national average alone can obscure how differently groups view Musk. It does not, however, establish that any particular group—or any particular people—changed their opinions over time.
Favorability is not personal likability or job approval
Quinnipiac asked whether respondents’ opinion of Musk was favorable or unfavorable, with an option for those who had not heard enough. YouGov uses a different question: “Regardless of whether you agree with him, do you like or dislike Elon Musk as a person?” That wording explicitly measures personal likability, and its results should be cited with the relevant field dates rather than substituted for a favorability result.
Free tools Windows power users keep installed
One-click scans. No signup required.
The Ipsos survey for ABC News and The Washington Post asked about approval of Musk’s performance in the Trump administration. Its 57% disapproval figure is therefore not another estimate of how many people personally disliked him. A strong claim about “detesting” Musk would require evidence that directly measures that sentiment; the cited figures do not.
How to read a polling trend
- Check who was surveyed: AP-NORC and Pew surveyed U.S. adults; Quinnipiac’s cited trend was among registered voters.
- Check the exact question: Favorability, personal likability and job-performance approval are different constructs.
- Compare like with like: A change within one pollster’s repeated series is more interpretable than a difference between unrelated polls, but it still does not trace individual attitude changes unless the same respondents are followed.
- Allow for uncertainty: Estimates have sampling error, and question wording, weighting and pollster effects can also affect comparisons.
Silver Bulletin’s Musk polling-average tracker describes its coverage as reaching back to early 2024 and cautions that Musk is polled less often than the president, while pollster house effects can be larger. Those factors make abrupt changes more likely to reflect noise than a clear shift. A tracker’s latest estimate should be checked directly before being quoted; the evidence summarized here does not establish a comparable national topline for October 2026.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the evidence supports
In 2025, several polls found unfavorable views of Musk were common. Quinnipiac recorded a lower favorable share in its registered-voter snapshots from December 2024 to June 2025, while AP-NORC found unfavorable views were steady between April and June 2025. Pew documented a pronounced partisan divide. None of these findings proves that a huge number of people who once liked Musk now detest him: the polls do not track that individual transition, and their measured categories do not mean “detest.”
Quick Recap
Best Value
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
