Elon Musk has lawyers coming at him from every angle, but his most current pressing concern is a class action lawsuit in California. Twitter investors say he violated federal securities laws with his erratic behaviorwhen purchasing the company, saying he intentionally drove down the price of shares before his October 2022 purchase.
The trial will take place in San Francisco over the next few weeks, and Musk himself is expected to be called as a witness. But, before any ruling can be made, a jury needs to be selected of regular citizens who can make an impartial decision on the situation.
They're having trouble getting jurors in one of the cases against @elonmusk because "so many people hate him so much"https://t.co/lOxClln9qK
— Drew Harwell (@drewharwell) February 20, 2026
There’s only one teeny-tiny problem. Elon Musk is so widely reviled that finding 12 Americans and true is proving very difficult. He’s alienated liberals by cozying up to Trump (and the whole Nazi salute thing), before also infuriating MAGA by coming after Trump himself for his Jeffrey Epstein connections (which has now somewhat backfired).
Anyhow, the near-universal disdain for Musk saw Judge Charles R. Breyer explaining that Musk’s fame is “like the President of the United States” and even if they “search the entire country,” it would probably be nearly impossible to find someone who did not have some sort of opinion about Musk.” and it would be impossible to find someone who didn’t have some sort of opinion on him.
Tough crowd for Musk
But the question is whether they can set that feeling aside. And, amusingly, many simply couldn’t. As reported by Bloomberg Laws, potential jurors were asked what they thought of Musk. One said that if this were a criminal trial, he would have a “moral obligation” to send Musk to prison.
“One prospective juror stated that he could be impartial in a civil trial, but that if this were a criminal trial, he would have a ‘moral obligation’ to convict Musk and send him to prison.” Others said they “hated” him for his mass layoffs, and one saying he despised “the existence of billionaires.” When the 93 potential jurors were asked if they could ignore their feelings about Musk and give him a fair trial, a full 40 of them immediately said they absolutely couldn’t.
One of Musk’s attorneys, Stephen Broome, miserably noted, “so many” jurors “hate him so much that we’re becoming desensitized”. All of this means Broome may be in the uncomfortable situation of having to choose jurors who already bear a grudge against his client,, as well as knowing there will likely be jurors who are keeping their true opinions to themselves simply to have a chance to stick it to Musk.
The trial itself is scheduled to begin on March 1. If they can decide on a jury.
Published: Feb 21, 2026 08:55 am