71% of Democrats Want Elon Musk in Prison

Since he agreed to lead President Donald Trump’s effort to reduce government waste, Elon Musk has become so hated by liberals that they would overwhelmingly favor a law to put the high-tech billionaire behind bars.

A new telephone and online survey by Rasmussen Reports and the Heartland Institute finds that 54% of Likely Voters would support a hypothetical law that would imprison Musk for his role in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), including 39% who would Strongly Support such a law. Thirty-six percent (36%) oppose a law that would send Musk to prison, including 26% who Strongly Oppose it, while 10% are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Seventy-one percent (71%) of Democrats would favor a hypothetical law to put Musk behind bars, as would 80% of self-identified liberal voters. Fifty-four percent (54%) of Republicans and 57% of conservative voters. would oppose such a law. Among voters not affiliated with either major party, 52% would support a law to imprison Musk for his role in DOGE, 34% would oppose it and 17% are not sure.

“The fact that a majority of Democratic voters would support imprisoning Elon Musk for trying to make government more efficient is a shocking indictment of the modern left, which has become increasingly more tyrannical in recent years,” said Justin Haskins, senior fellow at The Heartland Institute and the poll’s primary author. We’ve reached a point where many Americans would rather unjustly punish innovation than fix the broken systems Musk was trying to reform.”

(Not getting our eNewsletter? Sign up HERE. Already signed up? Try adding [email protected] to your contacts or whitelisting us. Still having trouble – email [email protected]. If it's in the news, it's in our polls).

Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.

The survey of 1,067 U.S. Likely Voters was conducted on April 30-May 4, 2025 by Rasmussen Reports and the Heartland Institute. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Forty-eight percent (48%) of all Likely Voters would support a hypothetical law that would ban Elon Musk from serving in government, while 38% would not and 14% are not sure.

Sixty-eight percent (68%) of Democrats would support banning Musk from serving in the government, while 59% of Republicans would oppose such a hypothetical law. Among unaffiliated voters, 46% would support and 37% would oppose a law to ban Musk from a government role, while 17% are not sure.

Among other findings of the Rasmussen Reports/Heartland Institute survey of Likely Voters:

– Forty-two percent (42%) view Musk favorably, including 21% with a Very Favorable impression. Fifty-two percent (52%) view Musk unfavorably, including 38% with a Very Unfavorable opinion. Musk’s favorability has declined slightly since a Rasmussen Reports survey in March in which 45% had a favorable opinion of him.

– Musk is viewed at least somewhat favorably by 77% of Republicans, 17% of Democrats, 37% of unaffiliated voters, 46% of whites, 29% of black voters, 40% of Hispanics and 41% of other minorities.

– Far more men (51%) than women voters (35%) have a favorable opinion of Musk.

– Among those who voted for Trump in last year’s presidential election, 75% have a favorable impression of Musk, while just 12% of Kamala Harris voters view Musk favorably.

Most voters believe the nation has become more divided since Trump was inaugurated for a second term in the White House, and nearly half say it’s his fault. 

The level of civility in American political life has declined, according to  a majority of voters, who expect political violence to increase in the next few years.

Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to the public as well as to Platinum Members.

Please sign up for the Rasmussen Reports daily e-mail update (it’s free) or follow us on Facebook. Let us keep you up to date with the latest public opinion news.