Elon Musk’s endorsement of former President Donald Trump — the man who promised the U.S. will “drill, baby, drill” for more oil — isn’t ending his company to potential Tesla buyers.
The electric vehicle maker’s favorability among Democrats has dropped to 16% as of July 16, down 20 percentage points from January, Yahoo Finance reports, citing new data from analytics firm CivicScience. Favorability among Republicans has also dropped, falling 13 percentage points to 23%.
CivicScience CEO John Dick told Yahoo Finance that the firm’s data has found that “Democrats, more closely than Republicans, associate Elon Musk and his actions with the brand.”
That might be a problem for Tesla going forward.
Just look at California, a state known for its rapid adoption of clean energy and promotion of EVs and related technology, including charging infrastructure. Although Tesla’s Model Y remains the best-selling car in the Golden State, registrations fell 17% year-over-year last quarter, with the California New Car Dealers Association noting that sales “may have peaked.” It’s Tesla’s third straight quarter of registration declines in California.
Musk has repeatedly criticized the state. Last week, Musk said he’d move X’s and SpaceX’s headquarters out of California, joining Tesla in Texas.
“Californians’ love affair with electric vehicle giant Tesla may have peaked,” the dealers association said in April, noting that rivals are providing more options for consumers interested in EVs. And many of those alternatives come without the baggage of supporting Musk, who has become increasingly controversial over the past few years.
Since Musk purchased Twitter, now X, he’s increasingly turned his attention to politics, often complaining about diversity initiatives, spreading claims about election fraud, criticizing vaccinations, and issuing critiques of the Biden administration’s handling of immigration and border security. His public comments — often coming in the form of a tweet — spell trouble for a company whose reputation is uniquely tied to its CEO.
“He completely alienated most of his buying base. …It’s going to kill the business,” Tesla short seller Mark Spiegel told Yahoo Finance. “I can’t imagine a single Democrat, or, let’s say, very few of them, willing to buy a Tesla at this point.”
Musk’s favored ticket of Trump and Ohio senator and venture capitalist J.D. Vance are not big fans of current pro-EV politics or, to an extent, EVs at all. Both Trump and Vance are advocates for domestic natural gas and oil production and rely on clean energy, with the latter calling EVs a “scam.”
And while Trump has said he “loves” Musk — and appreciates his donations to an aligned group — he has said electric cars will “kill” the U.S. government. auto industry and labeled manufacturers’ move to produce more EVs a “transition to hell.” Trump has also reported offered to gut pro-EV regulations in return for the oil lobby’s support.
It’s also possible that a Trump administration would try to repeal the $7,500 federal EV tax credit, which Biden implemented through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Vance has proposed a similar tax credit for gas-powered cars.
Although Tesla’s sales — like other EV sellers — would be hurt by the rollback of the credit, Musk doesn’t seem to personally mind.
“Take away the subsidies,” he wrote in a post on X. “It will only help Tesla.”
