The Tesla CEO is unpopular in both nations, and seen as having little knowledge of national affairs
Elon Musk has been causing controversy in Europe in recent weeks, with a series of interventions in national political issues. Musk has been particularly active in German and British politics, having attacked the leaders of both countries, while endorsing the right wing Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) in Germany and sparking rows over a 2010s child grooming gangs scandal in the UK.
An early look at British and German results from a forthcoming YouGov EuroTrack survey shows a negative public response to Musk’s interventions.
Musk is very unpopular in both countries, with 71% in each saying they take a negative view of the Tesla CEO, compared to only 19% with a favourable view in Germany and 18% in Britain. In Britain, where YouGov has been surveying Musk’s popularity for a few years, these results show a clear increase in unpopularity since his recent intervention on child grooming gangs.
Germans and Britons disapprove of Musk’s interventions in their national politics
Three quarters of Germans and Britons (74-76%) say that it is unacceptable for American political figures to intervene in domestic European political issues, with only 14-16% seeing it as acceptable.
The two publics feel that the principle extends in the opposite direction as well, with 72% in each nation saying that it is unacceptable for European political leaders to intervene in American political affairs.
When it comes specifically to Musk’s attempts to influence politics in Germany and Britain, the public has reacted negatively. Around seven in ten in both countries (69-73%) say such attempts by Musk have been unacceptable, with only 13% saying they are acceptable. Indeed, few Britons and Germans even think the billionaire’s attempts to influence politics in the US are acceptable (23-25%).
While Germans and Britons are unhappy with Musk’s interventions, few believe they will make much difference. Only around one in five (18-22%) believe that Musk has much influence on politics in their respective countries. Most Britons and Germans do, however, think that Musk has a great deal or fair amount of influence on politics in the USA (64-69%).
Nevertheless, Musk’s influence on US politics is not seen as a reason to cosy up to him. Only 26-29% of Britons and Germans think that it’s important for their national governments to build and maintain a good working relationship with Musk – 54% see such a relationship as being of little importance.
Indeed, half of Britons and Germans (50-51%) think that Musk is best ignored when he makes claims about a country. Only 28% in each nation think the better approach for politicians to claims made by Musk is to engage with him.
Germans and Britons disapprove of Musk’s stewardship of X
Musk’s behaviour has called into question the way in which he is running X (formerly known as Twitter).
Just 16% of Britons and 19% of Germans think Musk has managed X in an appropriate way. Few now have a favourable view of the platform (14-15%), and when asked about X’s stance on free speech, the most common view is that it “gives people too much freedom to post what they want and allows too much offensive or harmful content that should be removed”. Almost half (46%) of Germans and Britons feel this way, with only 12-13% in each country thinking X gets the balance right, while 8% think the problem is actually that there is not enough freedom of speech on the platform.
Reform UK and AfD voters have uniquely positive views of Musk
Musk has clearly been attempting to court Germany’s AfD and Britain’s Reform UK, having recently hosted a livestream conversation with AfD co-leader Alice Weidel and reportedly also considering a multi-million pound donation to Reform UK.
In both countries, Musk is uniquely popular among these voters – albeit to a greater extent in Germany than Britain, where Musk has harmed his popularity among Reform UK voters by calling for Nigel Farage to be replaced as leader.
Seven in ten AfD voters (70%) say they have a favourable view of Musk, compared to fewer than 20% among voters for the other main parties. Likewise in Britain, the 47% of Reform UK voters with a positive opinion of Musk is significantly higher than the 26% among Tory voters and 4-5% among Labour and the Lib Dems.
Across all of our other measures, Reform UK and AfD voters take a notably more pro-Musk stance than their peers. The exception is Musk’s influence within their countries, which voters from both groups concede is lacking – just 18% of Reform UK voters and 19% of AfD voters think Musk is influential in their national politics.
See the full results for Great Britain here and Germany here
How do you feel about Elon Musk's recent interventions in Europe, his management of X, and everything else? Have your say, join the YouGov panel, and get paid to share your thoughts. Sign up here.
Photo: Getty
