Musk has not hurt Tesla irreparably, but his presence makes it harder to fix the problem. About half of U.S. adults have an unfavorable opinion of Tesla, including 30% of Republicans, according to a June AP-NORC poll.

Tesla shares fell 7% in the hours after his tweets prompted Trump to publicly fume about cutting off government support for Musk companies. The president even floated the idea of deporting the businessman who became a U.S. citizen after being born in South Africa.