Elon Musk has become a prominent figure in President Donald Trump’s administration

U.S: Elon Musk has risen to prominence in President Donald Trump’s cabinet, much to the chagrin of Democrats. The CEO of Tesla has attended cabinet meetings, conducted secret talks on Capitol Hill, and led attempts to cut the deficit by at least $1 trillion.

But Musk’s increasing clout in Washington might play a major role in a Democratic comeback in the 2026 midterm elections.

Musk’s popularity ratings have fallen precipitously in recent weeks. According to a recent study of 2,746 registered voters conducted by Harris and the Harvard Centre for American Political Studies between March 26 and 27, 49 percent of respondents had a negative opinion of Musk, while just 39 percent had a positive one. This is a significant drop from February, when 44% of respondents said they had a positive opinion of Musk and an equal number indicated they had a negative one.

In a similar vein, a YouGov/Economist survey of 1,563 registered voters from April 5–8 revealed that Musk’s favourability had fallen from 44% in January to 40%. In the meanwhile, he is seen negatively by 54% of voters, up from 48% in January.

Musk’s popularity rating is also very low, according to pollster Nate Silver’s tracker, with 40% of Americans favouring him and 54% disapproving of him.

As the director of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Musk has vigorously promoted policies since entering the Trump administration that seek to reduce government spending, roll back regulations, and reduce the size of the federal workforce. Numerous legal challenges and public outcry have resulted from these initiatives.

In a series of worldwide “Hands Off!” demonstrations only last week, thousands of people came together to voice their displeasure about Musk’s plans to dismantle government agencies and reduce the federal workforce. In protest of Musk, hundreds of “Tesla Takedown” protests have also been held, calling on people to sell their Tesla cars and stock. Its market value dropped 4% in March.

The loss of Brad Schimel, the Trump-backed judicial nominee, to Susan Crawford by a 9-point margin in Wisconsin last month further undermined Musk’s political influence, even though Musk spent millions of dollars supporting the Republican candidate. Since then, Musk’s increasingly divisive persona has been cited by GOP strategists and political observers as a major contributing cause to the defeat.

Democratic strategist Doug Gordon told the media report, “It was evident that his attempts to take a chainsaw to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are extremely unpopular with the majority of voters.”

The Congressional Progressive Caucus Chair Greg Casar is leading a group of 77 House Democrats in a push to compel Musk to leave his job at DOGE by May 30 on the grounds that it is “for the good of the country”.

After the party suffered a crushing setback in the 2024 election, with Trump gaining ground in almost every state and the Republicans winning the House and the Senate, Democrats are beginning to see a way back in the 2026 midterm elections despite Musk’s waning popularity.

Adam Carlson, a pollster, said that Democrats use the same approach Republicans took in 2010, when they attacked Nancy Pelosi, the then-house speaker, because of her low favourability ratings, which made her a more effective target than the still-relatively-popular President Barack Obama.

According to Carlson, Musk, like Pelosi at the time, has the potential to become a powerful symbol of Democratic resistance, especially if his popularity keeps dropping and Trump’s support stays steady because of his base’s allegiance. But according to recent surveys, Trump’s popularity rating is also dropping.

“Musk could serve as a powerful ‘bonus bogeyman’ for Democrats, particularly in tight races across the House, Senate, and state-level contests,” Carlson said. “As we saw in Wisconsin last week, Musk is so electorally toxic that just the idea of him might be enough.”

Ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, Carlson said Democrats should concentrate their assaults on Trump; yet, “having that bonus bogeyman who is loathed by swing voters could be pivotal in key House, Senate, governor, and down-ballot races.”

Elon Musk would undoubtedly have a political target on his back in the 2026 midterm elections, Thomas Gift, an associate professor of political science and head of the Centre for U.S. Politics at University College London, said, telling the media. The Democratic base will be energised by the fact that DOGE is losing support and that many people dislike Musk’s attempt to use his riches to purchase elections.

G. Elliott Morris, a former director of ABC News’ 538, said, “Musk does give the Democrats an advantage in campaigning in that he is increasingly unpopular and his wealth is very otherworldly to most Americans.”

Christy Setzer, a Democratic strategist, cited recent demonstrations and impressive special election outcomes as evidence of growing Democratic momentum. According to Setzer, Musk is a potent figure against whom Democrats can unite, especially if they explicitly link him to Trump and present the two as a single, shared danger.

“There’s a clear and obvious upside in going after Musk—just ask the Wisconsin electorate, who showed him the door in dramatic fashion just last week,” Setzer said.

In fact, the Democrats presented their win in Wisconsin’s most recent Supreme Court election as a rejection of Musk. Following their triumph, DNC Chair Ken Martin released a statement denouncing Musk and Trump for sabotaging important social programs, like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, in order to lower taxes for the rich. Additionally, he attributed the decline in consumer confidence and the escalation of recessionary worries to their economic policies, particularly the “Liberation Day” tariffs.

Former Obama advisor David Axelrod described the recent Wisconsin race as “a referendum on Elon Musk”, not Trump, on a recent edition of the Hacks On Tap podcast. “Democrats see it as more fruitful to go after Musk,” Axelrod said.

Gift cautioned, however, that while the waning support for Musk and DOGE may galvanise the Democratic base, the party still needs a strong, upbeat platform to gain traction.

“Democrats continue to want a positive message about their principles. Democrats won’t be able to achieve the type of gains in the House and Senate they want in 2026 by only campaigning against Musk or Trump, as they did in the election held in November.

Morris reinforced this warning, pointing out that it is unlikely to restore the party’s trust on important topics where people continue to show doubt, such as trade, inflation, and crime.

“I do not think the backlash to him alone will be enough to repair the party’s credibility where it was before [Joe] Biden took office,” Morris said to the media. “Americans tell pollsters that they don’t trust Democrats to manage issues like trade, firearms, inflation, crime, and the economy. They won’t be able to resolve all of those issues by just opposing Musk.

The Democrats will have a difficult time regaining the House and the Senate in the 2026 midterm elections. The Democratic Party’s popularity ratings have dropped to all-time lows since Trump defeated Kamala Harris.

An NBC News survey conducted from March 7 to 7–11 found that 55% of participants had an unfavourable opinion of the Democratic Party, while 27% had a favourable one. Since NBC News started posing the question in 1990, it has been the lowest level ever noted.

Additionally, there were signs of discontent with the party among its supporters, as 20% of Democratic voters had an unfavourable opinion of it, which is twice as high as the percentage of Republicans who did the same. The margin of error for the survey was 3.1 percentage points.

Trump’s support rating among Democrats is actually increasing, according to several recent surveys, suggesting that some people may not be as opposed to him as they once were.

A recent interview with California Governor Gavin Newsom on Real Time with Bill Maher characterised his party’s image as “toxic”.

“Democrats, we tend to be a little more judgemental than we should be,” Newsom said.

Owning up to our faults is essential. We must take responsibility for our party’s shortcomings.

However, Setzer said that the reason her party’s popularity has dropped is because it has been ineffective against Trump, which has irritated supporters.

“Democrats aren’t standing up strongly against the biggest threat to our economy and our democracy in history,” she said in the media report.

In anticipation of the 2026 midterm elections, Setzer contends that Democrats must clearly link Trump to the unfavourable perception of individuals like Musk if they want to use it in their campaign.

By doing this, they may potentially erode the president’s popularity by taking advantage of the public’s distaste for Musk. Attacking both at the same time, according to Setzer, may help weaken Trump’s hold on power and turn supporters against him.

“Democrats, or anyone who wishes to stop Trump, need to make sure they’re tying Musk’s toxicity to Trump and taking him down in the process,” Setzer said.