(ReclaimingAmerica.net) – Exactly two-thirds of likely American voters believe COVID-19 originated in a lab in Communist China and favor a congressional investigation into how the pandemic started, a public opinion poll has found.
The 66% of voters who think that the US Congress should investigate the COVID-19 origins include 45% who “strongly agree” with that proposition, a Rasmussen Reports survey has found.
Less than one-third of likely US voters – or 26% – disagree that Congress should probe the matter.
In party affiliation groups, 80% of Republicans, 49% of Democrats, and 69% of independents deem it at least somewhat likely that the coronavirus emerged in a Chinese laboratory, presumably in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Roughly the same shares – 79% of Republicans, 55% of Democrats, and 65% of independents – agree at least somewhat with the need for a congressional investigation.
Last week, Republican US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy appointed a subcommittee to “finally get answers to the [COVID-19] origins and the federal government’s gain of function research that contributed to the pandemic.”
The investigation will probably look into the role of former White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci, who served as the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases from 1984 to 2022.
The Rasmussen poll found that 51% of likely US voters view Fauci unfavorably, including 38% with a strongly unfavorable opinion of him.
At the same time, 45% of voters said they saw Fauci positively, including 30% who had a highly favorable onion of him.
Party affiliations largely coincide with how Fauci is perceived, with 73% of Republicans viewing him negatively and 74% of Democrats holding a positive view of him. Among independent voters, 60% look at the former White House adviser unfavorably, while 36% have a favorable opinion of him.
The poll also found that US voters are evenly divided on whether President Joe Biden handled the coronavirus pandemic properly.
48% approve of his performance, including 29% who approve strongly of it. On the other hand, 48% of American voters disapprove of Biden’s handling of COVID-19, including 33% who disapprove strongly.
Division along party lines is reflected in those numbers, as 81% of Democrat voters think the president did well, while 75% of Republicans believe that he failed the nation on COVID-19.
Among independent voters, 55% disapprove of how Biden tackled the pandemic, while 41% approve of his work.
The survey discovered that 52% of male and 45% of female voters believe the emergence of COVID-19 in a Chinese lab is very likely.
The same goes for 52% of white Americans, 35% of black Americans, and 47% of other minorities.
The Rasmussen survey was conducted among 900 likely American voters from January 26-29. It has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.
Two-thirds of likely U.S. voters say COVID-19 likely originated in a Chinese lab and support a congressional probe into the epicenter of the pandemic, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports survey. https://t.co/RZTA9Re64C
— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) February 1, 2023
