Most Republicans Don't Trust Fauci or CDC's COVID Advice—but Nearly 70% Believe Trump: Poll

A majority of Republicans say they don't trust Dr. Anthony Fauci or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for advice on the coronavirus, but almost 70 percent say they trust President Donald Trump for advice, according to a new poll.

Fifty-two percent of Republicans said they don't trust what the CDC has said about the novel virus, and 53 percent said they don't trust Fauci, who has served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984 and is a member of the White House coronavirus task force.

In comparison, 69 percent of Republicans said they trust what Trump has said about the coronavirus, while 22 percent said they don't trust the president.

The poll, which was conducted by NBC News/Survey Monkey, surveyed 47,190 U.S. adults from July 27 to August 2. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 1 percentage point.

Among Democrats, the poll found a large majority said they don't trust Trump for advice on the virus but do trust Fauci and the CDC. According to the poll, 93 percent of Democrats said they don't trust the president, while 78 percent said they trust Fauci and 76 percent said they trust the CDC.

The poll's results were significantly different when looking at all U.S. adults regardless of political party affiliation.

Among all respondents, 31 percent said they trust Trump for advice on the virus, 51 percent said they trust Fauci, and 55 percent said they trust the CDC. By comparison, 58 percent said they don't trust what Trump has said about the virus, 29 percent said they don't trust Fauci, and 32 percent said they don't trust the CDC.

Since the start of the pandemic in the U.S., Trump and Fauci have disagreed on several aspects of handling the outbreak. One of their most recent disagreements came on July 7, when the two provided differing updates on the virus in the U.S.

During a social media live-stream press conference, Fauci said that the U.S. was "still knee-deep in the first wave" of the virus, but Trump said he disagreed, noting, "I think we are in a good place."

This poll also found that a majority of Americans disapprove of the way Trump is handing his job as president. Fifty-four percent said they disapprove, with 44 percent saying they strongly disapprove and 10 percent saying they somewhat disapprove.

By comparison, 45 percent said they approve of the way Trump has handled his time in office, with 29 percent saying they strongly approve and 16 percent saying they somewhat approve.