Exclusive poll: Latinos give Elon Musk low favorability

Latinos don't think much of Tesla CEO and Twitter owner Elon Musk, according to an exclusive Axios-Ipsos Latino poll in partnership with Noticias Telemundo.

Why it matters: Hispanics are among the fastest-growing consumers in the U.S. and are avid social media users, which could spell trouble for Musk if they continue to shun his electric vehicles or flee Twitter.

Details: Only 33% of Latinos surveyed said they had a favorable opinion of the billionaire, while 41% had an unfavorable view, the poll found.

• That's a lower favorable rating than President Biden (47%) and Vice President Kamala Harris (42%) have among Latinos.
• It's also only slightly higher than former President Trump, who has a 29% favorability percentage with Hispanics.

Zoom in: Around 25% of Latinos said they didn't know Musk, suggesting the billionaire is far less known among Latinos than other national figures, Ipsos pollster and senior vice president Chris Jackson tells Axios.

• "He's also not necessarily the beloved figure that he may be with some other communities," Jackson said.
• Yet Musk's high negatives, along with his unknowns, show Latinos just don't care for him, Republican consultant Mike Madrid, based in Sacramento, Calif., tells Axios. "That's a significant finding."

Background: Twitter saw a rise in hate speech after its acquisition by Musk, who has used to platform to spread conspiracy theories and attack Black Lives Matter and trans activists.

• After a Latino mass shooter, who police said held neo-Nazi views, killed eight people at a Texas mall last month, Musk called for scrutiny of claims about the shooter's alleged white supremacy ties.
• Musk also promoted an unfounded conspiracy theory about the shooter.

Of note: Tesla's 2021 Impact Report found that Latinos comprised 24% of Tesla's workforce, but one grassroots group raised concerns that same year that the company's new Austin gigafactory offered few opportunities for residents who only speak Spanish, Axios Austin's Nicole Cobler reports.

• Last year, a lawsuit alleged that Black Tesla workers were subjected to verbal racial abuse. Tesla said it strongly opposes all forms of discrimination and harassment.

The intrigue: A majority of Latinos say it's important to shift to electric vehicles to minimize climate change damage, but they still expressed more interest in buying gas-powered cars over EVs, according to the Axios Latino-Ipsos poll.

• Only 41% said they would buy a plug-in hybrid or electric-only vehicle, and 22% said they'd look at a plug-in hybrid or electric-only pickup truck.

Between the lines: "If you juxtapose that against the interests in hybrid and electric, it seems like they're more supportive of electric vehicles than they are of Elon Musk," Jackson said.

Methodology: This Axios/Ipsos Latino Poll, in partnership with Noticias Telemundo, was conducted June 2-9 by Ipsos' KnowledgePanel®. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,116 Hispanic/Latino adults age 18 or older.

• The margin of sampling error is ±3.5 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample.

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