‘Whoa!’ CNN’s Harry Enten Stunned By Musk’s Plunging Popularity
CNN’s data guru expressed astonishment Wednesday at new polling which reveals DOGE supremo Elon Musk is even more unpopular than his boss, Donald Trump.
Harry Enten, the network’s senior data correspondent, revealed research by Quinnipiac which showed 53% of people oppose him having a key role in the Trump administration. Speaking on CNN News Central, he told anchor Sara Sidner, “I think simply put, the American people did not sign up for this. They voted in Donald Trump. They did not vote in Elon Musk, a key role for Musk in Trump’s administration.
“You see this, 39% support, 53% — the clear majority oppose. They don’t want this. The American people don’t want this! No, no, no!”
'Whoa!' CNN's Harry Enten Stunned By Trump-Era Plunge In Elon Musk's Popularity https://t.co/5MpC5hmirZ
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) February 5, 2025
Musk, who now leads the special White House unit called the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has taken the lead in attempting to close the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), while his minions have turned up in a series of other departments—including one who gained access to millions of people’s highly-private information.
Enten added that while Musk “may be the king of X or Twitter, but he ain’t the king of the United States of America. And if he were the king, he’d be a very unpopular king.”
Enten also highlighted Musk’s “favorability” rating, which shows how positive and negative perceptions of him balance out—and said he had plunged from being well regarded to being far in the doldrums.
In 2016, Musk had a new favorability rating of plus 29 points. But by fall last year, when he was campaigning for Trump, Musk had fallen to a rating of -3. In the latest rating, after DOGE smashed its way into government, he had plummeted to -11 points.
But Enten offered some hope to Musk—Google searches for him are up 700% year-on-year. Critics and late-night comedians have called Musk the co-president—although he referred to himself as First Buddy—and Google searches show that he is searched seven times more than Vice President JD Vance.