May 1, 2026
Young Americans are turning against Elon Musk
- Favorable opinion among 18–29s has nearly halved — from 34.1% to 20.3% since Jan 2023 — while the general population barely moved (32.7% → 31.1%).
- Unfavorable opinion among young adults hit 50.0%, a 29.7-point gap over favorable. The general population gap is half that at 14.6 points.
- The divergence exploded after Jul 2024 — the youth gap jumped from 10pp to 30pp in just 14 months, coinciding with a period in which Musk became a more prominent and polarizing figure in public discourse.
- This matters for Tesla's brand: the cohort that once saw Musk as a visionary is now its harshest critic — and they're the next generation of car buyers.
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