Who do Americans trust for health information? Poll finds gap between FDA and RFK Jr.

Americans are more trusting of health information from public health agencies than from members of the incoming presidential administration, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., according to new polling.

In the latest Axios-Ipsos poll, 66% of respondents said they have a great deal or fair amount of trust in health information provided by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Similarly, 62% and 60%, respectively, said they trust health information provided by the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Forty-five percent said they trust information given by Anthony Fauci, who served as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and who played a key role in the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, smaller shares said they trusted information provided by members of President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration.

About one-third, 32%, said they trusted health information given by Trump, while 30% said they trusted information provided by Kennedy, Trump’s nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services.

Just 25% said the same for information provided by Elon Musk, whom Trump has tapped to co-lead the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency.

However, the most trusted source of health information was not a government agency or incoming official. The vast majority of respondents, 89%, said they trusted health information provided by their personal doctor.

Conducted between Dec. 6-9, the poll sampled 1,002 respondents and has a margin of error of 3.3 percentage points.

The responses were also strongly divided along partisan lines, with Democrats expressing more trust in government agencies and Republicans expressing more trust in Trump administration officials.

For example, 90% of Democrats said they trusted information provided by the CDC, while just 43% of Republicans said the same. In contrast, 58% of Republicans said they trusted information given by Kennedy, while 18% of Democrats said the same.

The poll also found that most respondents believe the Trump administration should strengthen or maintain the current standing of multiple health agencies and programs, including the CDC (83%), Medicare (89%) and the Affordable Care Act (73%).

This comes despite just 33% of respondents believing “the government makes the health or well-being of citizens a priority.”

Additionally, a plurality of respondents, 20%, said they believe obesity is the No. 1 public health threat. Eighteen percent said they believe mental health issues are the chief public health threat, and 12% said the same for opioids and fentanyl.

This story was originally published December 12, 2024 at 8:10 AM with the headline "Who do Americans trust for health information? Poll finds gap between FDA and RFK Jr.."