'Problem for Tesla': Dems flee automaker over Musk’s Trump endorsement

Earlier this year, Tesla and X CEO Elon Musk promised he wouldn't be giving any money to either Donald Trump or Joe Biden.

Musk sounded adamant, tweeting, on March 6, "Just to be super clear, I am not donating money to either candidate for U.S. President."

But Musk later changed his mind, reportedly donating $45 million a month of his money to the pro-Trump political action committee American PAC.

And according to Quartz, Musk's support of Trump is hurting Tesla's sales: Tesla manufactures electric vehicles, and Trump is an aggressive promoter of fossil fuels who is promising to "drill, baby, drill" if he returns to the White House.

READ MORE: Elon Musk donates $45m to pro-Trump PAC — after promising he wouldn't

Quartz's William Gavin reports, "The electric vehicle maker's favorability among Democrats has dropped to 16 percent as of July 16, down 20 percentage points from January, Yahoo Finance reports, citing new data from analytics firm CivicScience. Favorability among Republicans has also dropped, falling 13 percentage points to 23 percent."

According to the California Dealers Association, "Californians' love affair with electric vehicle giant Tesla may have peaked,”

CivicScience CEO John Dick told Yahoo Finance that "Democrats, more closely than Republicans, associate Elon Musk and his actions with the brand" — which, Gavin notes, "might be a problem for Tesla going forward."

Mark Spiegel, a Tesla short seller, told Yahoo Finance that Musk "completely alienated most of his buying base" by endorsing Trump.

READ MORE: Kentucky's Andy Beshear 'auditions' for Kamala Harris' running mate

Spiegel warned, "It's going to kill the business. I can't imagine a single Democrat, or, let's say, very few of them, willing to buy a Tesla at this point."

READ MORE: Trump's tone is 'noticeably different' with possible Harris debate: analysis