Trust in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has declined noticeably since April, a poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation says.
The survey, published Thursday, found 68% of people surveyed Aug. 28-Sept. 3 said they had a "great deal" or "fair amount" of trust in Fauci to provide them with reliable information on the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19.
But that was down 10 percentage points from April, driven mostly by Republicans, whose trust in Fauci dropped from 77% to 48%. Fauci's reputation also fell with independents, 76% to 71%, but rose with Democrats, 80% to 86%.
The CDC's reputation took an even bigger decline, falling from 83% to 67% from April to September. The agency's reputation fell with all political demographic groups, but, again, mostly with Republicans, falling from 90% to 60%.
Fauci fared best of all in trust among himself, the CDC, President Donald Trump, former Vice President Joe Biden, and Dr. Deborah Birx, who is the coronavirus response coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force.
Behind Fauci and the CDC, Birx was trusted a "great deal" or "fair amount" by 53% of those polled; Biden received 51%; and Trump 40%.
Interestingly, though, Birx fared worst of all with only 15% trusting her a "great deal."
The poll was a random digit dial telephone sample of 1,199 adults with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
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