Is support from Musk winning Trump voters? Survey says no

(NewsNation) — Elon Musk’s support of former President Donald Trump’s campaign might be losing more voters than it’s gaining.

That’s according to a new Yahoo Finance survey of its readers, which found that the Tesla and X billionaire might actually be hurting the GOP nominee’s bid for the White House.

With all respondents considered, 25% said it’d make them vote for Trump. In contrast, 28% said it’d have the opposite effect, netting Trump a loss of 3 percentage points.

Among undecided voters, about 21% said Musk’s endorsement makes them more likely to cast a ballot for Trump, while 28% it would make that less likely.

“This is not a randomized survey, and the Yahoo Finance audience tends to be wealthier, more educated, and older than the electorate overall,” senior columnist Rick Newman wrote of the survey.

“But our survey is a large and useful focus group of investors — including some Tesla shareholders — who follow the mercurial Musk closer than others and are likely familiar with his pathbreaking roles at Tesla and other companies, including SpaceX and the social media app X, formerly known as Twitter.”

Musk has drawn ire for his political endeavors and management of the social media site X. The platform’s far-right accounts and misinformation led X to be banned in Brazil for more than a month due to free speech clashes with the country’s highest court.

Recent reporting also alleges Musk has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

A person familiar with the situation, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter, confirmed to The Associated Press that Musk and Putin have had contact through calls. The person didn’t provide additional details about the frequency of the calls, when they occurred or their content.

Musk, the world’s richest man, has emerged as a leading voice on the American right. He’s poured millions of dollars into Trump’s presidential bid and turned the platform once known as Twitter into a site popular with Trump supporters, as well as conspiracy theorists, extremists and Russian propagandists.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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