Elon Musk is the most hated man in America

The firm polled Americans between July 7 and 21 on what they thought of 14 world-famous public figures. In the case of billionaire Elon Musk, owner of Tesla, SpaceX and social network X, among others, 61% of respondents said they had an unfavorable opinion of him.

Gallup also revealed that 6% of respondents said they had no opinion of the mogul, and 33% said they had a positive image of him.

Public opinion of the South African billionaire has fallen drastically since he joined the Trump administration in January. Yet Musk was close to the American president during the latter’s months in office.

The businessman had even supported the Republican’s election campaign with over $270 million. Trump also placed him at the head of the Commission on Government Efficiency (DOGE).

He then left this position in May to take back control of his businesses, in particular the electric vehicle company Tesla, whose image and sales have suffered worldwide due to his association with Trump. In the second quarter of 2025, Tesla reported a 16% drop in net income and a 12% drop in sales.

Since their fallout, the richest man on the planet and the president of the world’s leading power have been feuding for the whole world to see, trading threats in socials posts and press statements.

His net popularity rating, which was -4 at the start of the year, has now fallen to -28, reports Gallup. This places Musk just behind Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu (-23) in the rankings.

The other figures in Trump’s entourage featured in the Gallup poll also all had negative net popularity ratings.

Donald Trump himself tops out at -16, as does his Secretary of State Marco Rubio. They are preceded by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, with his score of -12.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance scored -11. Finally, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health, had the highest score at -5.

On the Democratic side, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez scored -4 and her ally Bernie Sanders +11.

At the top of the ranking is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (+18), in second place.

Finally, the most popular public figure according to the Gallop Institute poll is Pope Leo XIV (+46), the first American pope.