People like Dr. Anthony Fauci, but 65% of voters believe political considerations have influenced Fauci’s decisions and public statements about the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a Rasmussen Reports survey released on Wednesday.
This includes 40% who think political considerations have had much influence on Fauci, the president’s top medical adviser.
Only 11% believe his decisions and statements about the pandemic haven’t been influenced at all by political considerations.
Other results from the poll include the following:
- Fifty-four percent of likely voters have a favorable opinion of Fauci, who is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, including 34% who have a very favorable view of him. However, that approval is down from 68% and 42%, respectively, from a poll conducted last May.
- Forty percent say that over the past year they have become less confident in Fauci's recommendations about the coronavirus, while 28% are more confident in his recommendations and another 28% say their level of confidence is unchanged.
- Among Democrats, 79% view Fauci favorably, compared to 49% of unaffiliated voters and 32% of Republicans.
- Among Republicans, 61% say they have become less confident in Fauci's recommendations over the past year, a view shared by 41% of unaffiliated voters and 19% of Democrats. Forty-three percent of Democrats say they have become more confident in Fauci's recommendations over the past year, a view shared by 20% of unaffiliated voters and 17% of Republicans.
- Republicans (55%) are more likely than unaffiliated voters (34%) or Democrats (29%) to believe political considerations have had much influence on Fauci's decisions.
- Among black voters, 66% have a favorable view of Fauci, more than for other minorities (56%) or whites (51%).
- Among voters who have a very unfavorable impression of Fauci, 79% believe politics had much influence on his decisions, while among those who have a very favorable impression of him, only 22% say political considerations had much influence on the doctor’s decisions concerning the pandemic.
- Among voters who strongly approve of Biden’s job performance as president, 73% have a very favorable opinion of Fauci. By contrast, among voters who strongly disapprove of Biden’s performance, only 2% have a very favorable impression of Fauci and 67% have a very unfavorable view of him.
The survey of 1,000 likely voters was conducted on May 23-24. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence.
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