Focus group: Swing voters wary of Musk-Trump relationship

• 12 of 14 participants in this week's sessions said they were familiar with Musk's advising Trump. Of those, five said it's a bad thing, seven didn't know what to say and none would say it was good.

What they're saying: "He's very good obviously at business, but I didn't elect — I didn't vote for him," said Pierre D., of Las Vegas. "I don't know what his ultimate agenda would be for having that type of access."

• "I think it'll favor his Tesla company, and he'll get the majority of the breaks, and just by throwing a couple hundred million on his (Trump's) campaign, they're going to look the other way," predicted George L., of Phoenix.
• "There's nothing, in my opinion, in Elon Musk's history that shows that he's got the best interest of the country or its citizens in mind," said Blair P., of Oxford, Mich.

Eight of the 14 respondents also said they were aware that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — who Trump on Thursday tapped as health secretary — has been advising Trump in recent weeks. Of those, one thinks it's a good thing and four think it's a bad thing.

• The one that supported RFK Jr. said he "can't do any worse than anybody else has ever done."
• Others raised concerns about Kennedy's mental fitness, his family's own opposition to him and his controversial views on everything from water fluoridation to the use of vaccines. "A lot of his policies are rooted in gut feelings and anecdote, and not science," said Shawnn E., of Spring Grove, Pa.

The big picture: Most participants said they want President-elect Trump to focus on improving the economy and countering inflation when he takes the White House in January — and not to pursue retribution against his adversaries as he's foreshadowed.

• 11 of the 14 said Trump would not be justified in seeking retribution against his political allies. Eight said they believe that Trump will go after his enemies; six think he's exaggerating.
• "It just all sounds like we're just going to throw our political enemies, because they lose an election, into jail," said Jake H., of Lambertville, Mich. "I mean, it's completely nonsense. I don't know if there's any other way to explain. It doesn't follow any of our principles we're supposed to have."

How it works: The two online panels conducted Tuesday night were comprised of 14 battleground-state voters who'd supported Donald Trump in 2016, then Joe Biden in 2020. They were recruited for this post-election panel before election day.

• Five of the 14 said they'd swung back to Trump this time. Another five voted for Vice President Harris. Four voted for a third-party candidate.
• The five saying it's a bad idea for Trump to work so closely with Musk are a combination of Harris-, Trump- and third-party voters.
• While a focus group is not a statistically significant sample like a poll, the responses show how some voters are thinking and talking about current events.

Rich Thau, president of Engagious, who moderated the focus groups, said of all of the views expressed in the post-election panels, swing voters' suspicions of Musk's intentions was the biggest surprise to him.

• Musk was one of Trump's biggest backers during the 2024 election. He joined the president-elect at his Mar-a-Lago residence in the days since the election in a sign of his growing influence. Then he flew to Washington, D.C., with Trump on Wednesday, and joined him with his meeting with House Republicans.

Go deeper: Behind the Curtain: The Trump, Musk fusion