As Democrats target Elon Musk over his handling of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), one pollster sees that approach as fruitless in the long term in light of the Tesla founder's popularity with younger generations.

"He's become the Democrats boogeyman, and they have to figure out someone or somewhere to focus their fire," pollster Richard Baris said on the "John Solomon Reports" podcast. "But the problem is, the only real opportunity with Elon Musk is with older voters and Democrats are trying to build a party for the future. Are they not?"

Many Democratic criticisms of Musk have been warnings that he might cause problems for key entitlements that cater to senior citizens, such as Social Security and Medicare.

"Elon is the most popular with voters that are 18 to 29 anyone who has a teenage kid or a kid that's a young adult, right? You know, he's popular with this generation. All of them want a cyber truck, right?" Baris continued. "They look at him. He's innovative. Uh, he's been, he's been a unique and important figure in for that generation. They've heard a lot about his innovation, and they, frankly, kind of look up to it and appreciate it."

"So it's hard to really make that argument, to make him the boogeyman with that age group. And by the way, that 18 to 29 is consistently Trump's strongest age group as well," Baris argued. "So this is, this is a real, completely upside down situation that we're all used to in modern politics.

To explain that reversal, Baris pointed to a change in the priorities of younger generations as they become less interested in foreign conflicts and want Washington to prioritize domestic affairs.

"They're over conflict in general. One of the biggest problems for Joe Biden, we heard in the from voters in the polling was, you know, we're focused on Ukraine... And I understand security, but what about the price of eggs? Right?" he said. "And that was one of Biden's biggest problems. Because if Donald Trump does end up ending this war, expect that approval rating to go even higher, because people are, you know, John, that that was the last generation. They were focused on security."