Dr. Anthony Fauci takes credibility hit among Republicans
Pollster Frank Luntz reveals how focus group of Trump voters feel about NIAID director on 'Special Report'
Trump voters are more likely to trust doctors than politicians when it comes to the efficacy of the coronavirus vaccine, but don't want to hear from White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci, pollster Frank Luntz told "Special Report."
Luntz told host Bret Baier he conducted a focus group last weekend with 19 Trump voters from across the nation, most of whom expressed "real concern, doubt, if not distrust of Anthony Fauci and what he has to say."
"I have tuned him out, frankly, I have no opinion anymore," respondent Doug from California told Luntz. Other members of the focus group described the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director as a "liar," a "puppet," and a "flip-flopper", as well as "inconsistent" and "self-serving."
"They've given up on him because he keeps changing the goal posts. He keeps changing his mind," said Luntz, who added that "I don't want to undercut Dr. Fauci's credibility, but among Trump voters he has none."
Earlier Thursday, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., lambasted Fauci during a Senate hearing after pressing him on why he believes mask mandates are anything but "theater."
"If we’re not spreading the infection, isn’t it just theater? You have the vaccine and you’re wearing two masks, isn’t that theater?" Paul asked Fauci at one point.
If skeptical Trump voters are to be convinced to take the vaccine, Luntz said, "they need evidence other than Dr. Fauci, [whether that's] their own doctor, their own health care provider, they're more likely to trust [them] than anybody else."
RAND PAUL, FAUCI SPAR OVER WHETHER WEARING MASKS AFTER GETTING COVID VACCINE IS 'JUST THEATER'
Impressions of the vaccine among the focus group member ranged from calling it "a miracle, albeit suspicious" to "unproven", "rushed," and "scary, not knowing the long-term side effects."
"The one group least likely to take this vaccine are Trump voters, particularly younger Trump voters," Luntz explained. "And it's going to take an appeal from the medical community, from the doctors themselves, face to face with their patients, giving the vaccines in the doctor's office rather than these mass [vaccination] sites. That's going to move people, and they've got to be moved if we're going to get to herd immunity.
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The pollster added that a public service announcement featuring past U.S. presidents urging the public to get vaccinated had no effect on his respondents.
"Trump voters want to hear the science. They want to hear the medicine. They want to hear from doctors. They do not want to hear from previous presidents."