A new poll from a progressive polling firm shows support for the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement is narrow and highly vulnerable, and that support drops significantly when voters learn about Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s actions in office and his policies.
The poll, conducted by Data for Progress and RFK Jr Watch, a project of 314 Action, comes from a national sample of 2,350 likely voters. While many say they support the movement’s goals, only one in six actually identify with the movement. Roughly 30% of those polled outright reject it. Half of Republicans (50%) and 40% of swing district voters said they support many tenets of MAHA but do not identify with the movement.
Among “Soft MAHA” voters, defined as people who are supportive of MAHA goals but do not identify with the movement, opinion of Kennedy decreased the most (-18 points)when they were told about his policies and actions as the secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) in the past year. Support among Independents also dropped significantly (–17 points).
“The most effective critiques of RFK Jr’s actions as health secretary focus on his failure to stand up to Big Pharma and lower costs, funding cuts for Medicaid and medical research, firing public health experts, and upending vaccine guidance,” Data for Progress said in a press release on the findings.
Nurses most trusted in medicine
The poll also asked respondents about their levels of trust in various health professionals; 92% said they trust nurses, 90% their personal or family doctor, and 86% doctors in general. Scientists and researchers at medical universities were also trusted by around 75% or respondents.
Forty percent said they trusted Kennedy, and 29% said they trusted podcasters and health influencers on social media.
The main issues supported by poll respondents were in conflict with Kennedy’s actions during his first year as HHS secretary. Funding public research for cures was highly popular (88% support, 64% strongly support), as was requiring routine childhood vaccines (79% support, 54% stronglysupport), and limiting pesticide use in agriculture (76% support, 47% stronglysupport).
“More voters (49%) side with a statement about the MAHA movement not delivering on its promises than with a statement about the movement being common sense and bringing necessary change (43%),” Data for Progress said.
The poll highlighted how swing voters and Independents could be turned away from MAHA.
While many express initial openness to MAHA’s goals, they do not believe the movement is delivering on its promises
“While many express initial openness to MAHA’s goals, they do not believe the movement is delivering on its promises and strongly prefer candidates with backgrounds in science or medicine over those aligned with the MAHA agenda,” Data for Progress said.
The survey included 2,350 likely voters nationally using web panel respondents during the second week of March. The margin of error associated with the sample size is plus or minus 2 percentage points.
