Vaccine Miscarriage Risk: Another ‘Serious Scandal’ for Dr. Fauci
Revelations that Dr. Anthony Fauci knew about potential miscarriage risks from COVID-19 vaccines is a serious scandal, according to two-thirds of voters.
The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 66% of Likely U.S. Voters believe it is a serious scandal that Fauci knew of the risks while publicly insisting there were “no red flags” for pregnant women getting the COVID-19 vaccine. That includes 48% who say it’s a Very Serious scandal. Twenty-seven percent (27%) don’t think it’s a serious scandal, including 15% who consider it Not At All Serious. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
Text messages obtained by the Senate Homeland Security Committee show that Fauci was aware of concerns that the COVID-19 vaccine could be linked to miscarriages in expectant mothers. Despite such potential risks, some employers made vaccination mandatory as a condition of employment. Thirty-two percent (32%) of voters say they got a COVID-19 vaccination as a result of such a compulsory order, while 63% did not.
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The survey of 1,087 U.S. Likely Voters was conducted on August 13 and 16-17, 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.
Among those who got a COVID-19 vaccine because it was mandated by their employers, 74% consider it a serious scandal that Fauci knew of potential miscarriage risks from the vaccines while saying publicly the vaccines were safe.
If it is proven that governmental officials concealed data about miscarriage risks associated with COVID-19 vaccines, 29% of Likely Voters believe such officials should be removed from their jobs. Twelve percent (12%) think officials who concealed miscarriage risks should have their medical licenses revoked, and another 12% say they should be criminally prosecuted. Thirty-four percent (34%) say “all of the above.” Just 14% believe officials who concealed data about miscarriage risks associated with COVID-19 vaccines should not be punished at all.
Eighty-two percent (82%) of Republicans, 66% of Democrats and 76% of voters not affiliated with either major party believe that officials who concealed data about COVID-19 vaccines and miscarriage risks should face at least some punishment. Nearly half (47%) of Republicans favor an “all of the above” punishment for such officials.
Majorities of every political category – 81% of Republicans, 57% of Democrats and 59% of unaffiliated voters – think it’s at least a somewhat serious scandal that Fauci knew of the risks while publicly insisting there were “no red flags” for pregnant women getting the COVID-19 vaccine.
More Democrats (40%) than Republicans or unaffiliated voters (both 27%) say they got a COVID-19 vaccine because it was mandated by their employers.
Majorities of every racial category – 63% of whites, 71% of black voters, 77% of Hispanics and 59% of other minorities – think it’s at least a somewhat serious scandal that Fauci knew of potential miscarriage risks from COVID-19 vaccines while saying publicly the vaccines were safe.
Among those who voted for Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election, 51% favor an “all of the above” punishment for officials who concealed data about miscarriage risks associated with COVID-19 vaccines, but just 19% of Kamala Harris voters agree.
Republicans in Congress are viewed as siding too much with Trump by a plurality of voters and, in a troubling signal for the party’s midterm election fate, the GOP is “underwater” in its favorability rating.
Candidates proposing socialism and other radical ideas face defeat by candidates who defend American traditions.
Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to Platinum Members only.
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The survey of 1,087 U.S. Likely Voters was conducted on August 13 and 16-17, 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.
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