Experts say he could easily snuff out federal investigations or safety initiatives that have stymied Tesla or his other companies.

Tesla’s stock continues to pullback, as the souring of public opinion toward CEO Elon Musk fuels worries of lower sales.

"Opinions on Elon Musk have taken a turn for the worse along political affiliations," Stifel analyst Stephen Gengaro said.

For years, Elon Musk has talked about Dojo — the AI supercomputer that will be the cornerstone of Tesla’s AI ambitions. It’s important enough to Musk that in July 2024, he said the company’s AI team would “ double down ” on Dojo in the lead-up to Tesla’s robotaxi reveal, which happened in October.

"No bigger obstacle exists to mass EV adoption than the 'Red Wall,'" veteran Republican strategist Mike Murphy said in a new report.