Zuckerberg deeply unpopular among U.S. adults in new survey
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A majority of Americans hold negative views of X owner Elon Musk and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.
The big picture: The billionaire tech magnates already have huge cultural influence, but their alliances with Trump have influenced the overhauling of the federal government and brought significant changes to the platforms they own in an effort to align more with the MAGA agenda.
By the numbers: In the survey of 5,086 U.S. adults from Jan. 27 to Feb. 2, Democrats and Democratic-leaning respondents had a less favorable view of Musk and Zuckerberg than Republicans and people who lean Republican.
- Only 12% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning respondents had a favorable view of Musk, while 73% of Republicans held a favorable view.
- Far more Democrats hold an unfavorable view of Musk, with 85% expressing disapproval compared to just 24% of Republicans.
- Majorities in both parties viewed Zuckerberg unfavorably, though Democrats were more likely than Republicans to hold a negative opinion of him.
Zoom in: Younger adults viewed Musk and Zuckerberg more negatively than older age groups in the survey.
- About two-thirds of adults under 30 had an unfavorable opinion of Musk, while around 7 in 10 under 30 felt the same about Zuckerberg.
- Those 50 and older were somewhat less critical, with 49% holding an unfavorable view of Musk and 62% feeling the same about Zuckerberg.
Zoom out: Musk is advising President Trump and overseeing the newly created Department of Government Efficiency. In only a month of Trump 2.0, Musk has helped architect mass firings of federal workers to purportedly make the government more efficient by cutting costs.
- In apparent attempts to curry favor with Trump, Zuckerberg has loosened Meta's content moderation policies, ended its diversity initiatives and recommended more political content across Facebook, Instagram and Threads.
