Americans trust Fauci over RFK Jr. and career scientists over Trump officials
Source: Ars Technica
Survey Shows Americans Trust Fauci Over Kennedy
Anti‑vaccine activist and current Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has worked hard to villainize infectious‑disease expert Anthony Fauci, even writing a conspiracy‑laden book that lambasts the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
A year into his tenure as the country’s top health official, Kennedy—who has no background in medicine, science, or public health—still holds less sway with Americans than the esteemed physician‑scientist.
In a nationally representative survey conducted in February by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania, 54 % of respondents said they had confidence in Fauci, while only 38 % had confidence in Kennedy. Breaking those supporters down further, 25 % said they were “very confident” in Fauci, compared with 9 % for Kennedy.
Confidence Levels
- Anthony Fauci: 54 % overall confidence; 25 % very confident
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr.: 38 % overall confidence; 9 % very confident
Trust in Federal Agencies
Overall, the survey found a clear divide between confidence in Kennedy and other Trump‑administration officials and that of career scientists and medical associations.
- Career scientists at the CDC, FDA, and NIH: 67 % confidence
- Leaders of those agencies: 43 % confidence
“The public is differentiating the trustworthiness of career scientists in the CDC, NIH, and FDA from that of the leaders of those agencies and recalling substantially higher confidence in the guidance that former director Fauci provided than that offered by Secretary Kennedy or Dr. Oz,” — Ken Winneg, APPC’s managing director of survey research