63% Suspect COVID-19 Cover-Up

A majority of voters believe federal officials helped conceal the role China played in the origins of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 63% of Likely U.S. Voters think it’s likely that some U.S. officials were involved in a cover-up of China’s role in the COVID-19 pandemic, including 43% who consider it Very Likely. Twenty-five percent (25%) don’t believe it is likely American officials covered up for China, including 15% who say it is Not At All Likely, and 13% are not sure. Three years ago, 66% considered it likely U.S. officials were involved in a COVID-19 cover-up. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

The survey was completed before Wednesday’s testimony by a CIA whistleblower that Dr. Anthony Fauci improperly influenced intelligence analyses to downplay findings that the COVID-19 epidemic most likely resulted from a laboratory accident in China. Seventy-eight percent (78%) of Republicans, 53% of Democrats and 58% of voters not affiliated with either major party think it is at least somewhat likely that U.S. officials were involved in a cover-up of China’s role in the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The survey of 1,060 U.S. Likely Voters was conducted on May 10-12, 2026 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

In 2021, when it was revealed that American taxpayer dollars had funded gain-of-function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, suspected as the source of the COVID-19 virus, Dr. Fauci defined gain-of-function research as “taking a virus that could infect humans and making it either more transmissible and/or pathogenic for humans.” Thirty-eight percent (38%) of voters are familiar with gain-of-function research, including just 15% who say they’re Very Familiar with it. A majority (55%) are not familiar with gain-of-function research, including 29% who are Not Familiar At All.

Thirty-six percent (36%) of voters think Fauci has told the truth about U.S. government funding for gain-of-function virus research, but 43% don’t think Fauci has told the truth and 21% are not sure.This finding has not changed significantly since 2021.

Concerns about vaccine safety are a lasting consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Fifty-nine percent (59%) of voters believe it’s likely that side effects of COVID-19 vaccines have caused a significant number of unexplained deaths, including 37% who think it’s Very Likely. Thirty-one percent (31%) don’t consider it likely that COVID-19 vaccines caused a significant number of deaths, including 17% who say it’s Not At All Likely.

Seventy-four percent (74%) of Republicans, 48% of Democrats and 56% of voters not affiliated with either major party believe it is at least somewhat likely that side effects of COVID-19 vaccines have caused a significant number of unexplained deaths.

More Republicans (50%) than Democrats (30%) or unaffiliated voters (33%) say they’re familiar with gain-of-function research.

Fifty-six percent (56%) of Republicans, 26% of Democrats and 47% of unaffiliated voters don’t think Fauci has told the truth about U.S. government funding for gain-of-function virus research.

Majorities of every political category – 78% of Republicans, 53% of Democrats and 58% of unaffiliated voters – consider it at least somewhat likely that some U.S. officials were involved in a cover-up of China’s role in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Slightly more women voters (62%) than men (56%) say it’s at least somewhat likely that COVID-19 vaccines caused a significant number of deaths.

Majorities of every racial category – 60% of whites, 63% of black voters, 73% of Hispanics and 71% of other minorities – consider it at least somewhat likely that some U.S. officials were involved in a cover-up of China’s role in the COVID-19 pandemic. Hispanics are most likely to think Fauci hasn’t told the truth about U.S. funding for gain-of-function virus research.

Voters 65 and older are least likely to suspect that COVID-19 vaccines caused a significant number of deaths.

Among those who voted for Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election, 67% don’t believe Fauci has told the truth about U.S. government funding for gain-of-function virus research, but 56% of Kamala Harris voters think Fauci has told the truth.

Voter enthusiasm for this fall’s midterm congressional elections is much higher among older voters, with Baby Boomers likely to have a dominant impact in November. 

In a remarkable reversal of previous trends, voters now trust Democrats more than Republicans on the issue of immigration. 

Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to Platinum Members only.

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