In the wake of Dr. Anthony Fauci’s appearance before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee July 29, during which he invoked his Fifth Amendment privilege of silence 111 times, a Rasmussen survey revealed 46 percent of likely voters wanted him held in contempt of Congress.
They got their wish last Thursday when the Senate committee, chaired by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) voted along party lines to hold him in contempt. PBS reported on why the committee voted to hold Fauci in contempt.
But the Rasmussen poll conducted Aug. 2-4 from among 1,222 likely voters revealed the animosity Fauci’s Fifth Amendment silence generated. This was especially keen when various news commentators reminded the country about Fauci’s pardon by former President Joe Biden for any crimes he may have committed as a government official.
According to Rasmussen, 65 percent of Republicans favor contempt charges against Fauci, as do 32 percent of Democrats and 41 percent of Independents. Among survey respondents, 21 percent watched all of Fauci’s testimony, 36 percent watched some of it and 23 percent only saw “a little” of his testimony, Rasmussen said. Eighteen percent said they did not watch any of Fauci’s appearance.
Surprisingly, according to Rasmussen, 45 percent still view Fauci favorably – unchanged from January 2025 – including 19 percent with a Very Favorable impression. Forty-two percent view Fauci unfavorably, including 31 percent with a Very Unfavorable opinion, and 12 percent are not sure, Rasmussen said.
The survey also revealed Fauci is viewed at least somewhat favorably by 67 percent of Democrats, but only 28 percent of Republicans and 41 percent of Independent voters share that opinion.
More men (50%) than women voters (42%) have a favorable opinion of Fauci, but men are also slightly more likely to favor prosecuting him for contempt.
