Poll: Plurality Say Fauci Has Not Told the Truth About U.S. Funding Gain of Function Research

A plurality of voters does not believe Dr. Anthony Fauci has told the truth about the U.S. and its purported role in funding gain of function research, a Rasmussen Reports survey released Tuesday found.

The survey asked respondents, “Do you believe Dr. Anthony Fauci has told the truth about U.S. government funding for gain-of-function virus research?”

A plurality, 46 percent, said “no,” 40 percent said “yes,” and 15 percent said they remain unsure. A majority of Republicans, 66 percent, say Fauci has not told the truth, compared to 23 percent of Democrats and 51 percent of independents who say the same. A majority of Democrats, 63 percent, believe Fauci has been forthcoming, compared to 22 percent of Republicans and 29 percent of independents.

Voters, however, remain divided on whether the U.S should be funding gain of function research. Over one-third, 35 percent, said they are not sure if the U.S. government should be funding such research, while 34 percent said the government should be and 31 percent said it should not. Notably, 52 percent of Democrats believe the U.S. government should be funding gain of function research, compared to 24 percent of Republicans and 24 percent of independents.

The survey, taken June 6-7 among 1,000 likely U.S. voters, has a margin of error of +/- 3 percent.

One of Fauci’s emails shows the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases chief in an email exchange about “experiments… performed before the gain of function pause” at the start of the pandemic.

“The paper you sent me says the experiments were performed before the gain of function pause but have since been reviewed and approved by NIH,” National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Principal Deputy Director Hugh Auchincloss wrote to Fauci.

“Not sure what that means since Emily is sure that no Coronavirus work has gone through the P3 framework. She will try to determine if we have any distant ties to this work abroad,” he continued.

“It is essential that we speak this AM. Keep your cell phone on,” Fauci wrote. “I have a conference call at 7:45 AM with Azar. It likely will be over at 8:45 Am. Read this paper as well as the e-mail that I will forward to you now. You will have tasks today that must be done.”

Fauci has since admitted the National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded the Wuhan lab but has denied gain of function support. But Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) has continued to blast the White House chief medical adviser, as there was gain of function research occurring with Dr. Shi Zhengli at the Wuhan Institute.

“You know, there’s been no more prominent scientist in favor of gain of function research than Dr. Fauci,” Paul said during a Friday appearance on Hannity. “He still hasn’t backed off of that position.”

He continued:

But even after all of this evidence points towards the Wuhan lab, this last week in committee, Dr. Fauci said that he still trusts the Chinese scientists, and the thing is that’s a very naive notion. That’s how we got here. But there are worse viruses. This is a bad one. This has about a one percent mortality, three and a half million people have died, but they’ve been experimenting with some viruses that have 15% mortality. That would mean 50 million deaths right now.

“So, this kind of research needs not to be funded by the U.S. taxpayer, and so I had an amendment this week that passed actually unanimously saying no more funds for this Wuhan lab,” Paul added. “So, we’ll see what Dr. Fauci has to say, but he doesn’t really have the judgment to be in the position he’s in.”