Trump's Trials - Poll: 59% of Americans disapprove of RFK Jr.'s moves as health secretary

Episode Date: October 9, 2025

What people believe about health increasingly depends on how they feel about politics, according to a new poll. NPR's Yuki Noguchi reports.Then, NPR's A Martínez speaks with former U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona, who is one of six former surgeons general to have issued a warning about Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of health & human services.Support NPR and hear every episode of Trump's Terms sponsor-free with NPR+. Sign up at plus.npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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I mean, Martinez. Scientific research has found no causal link between Tylenol and autism, as President Trump warned at a press conference last month. But whether people believe that or any other health information increasingly depends on their politics. MPR's Yuki Noguchi reports on those findings in a new poll. The poll from Health Policy Research Group KFF offers a window into how dramatically public opinion has changed, along with federal health policies. Take, for example, Well, President Trump's warning to pregnant women not to take acetaminopin, the active ingredient in Tylenol. Doctors groups argue that taking it for high fever is safer for pregnancy.

So what do people now think? What we see is that it's hugely divided among partisans. Ashley Kersinger directs a poll for KFF, which was fielded on the day after President Trump's statements on Tylenol on September 22nd. She found nearly 60 percent of Democrats believed the statements were definitely. false. But on the other hand, an almost equal percentage of Republicans believed the opposite. Six and ten Republicans think that it's either definitely or probably true. Kersinger says historically, people have trusted their doctors most for health information. But increasingly, and especially after the appointment of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as President Trump's Health and

Human Services Secretary, party lines are more critical in determining what sources of information people rely on as the basis for their health decisions. Among Republicans, RFK is as trusted for Republicans as their own health care provider. Still, the poll also found 59% of people, mainly Democrats and independents, disapproved of RFK Jr's job performance. Kersinger says public trust in federal health agencies has plummeted, most recently among Democrats. The poll found a 24% decline in trust in CDC's vaccine information among Democrats over the past two years. Kersinger says, as the Trump administration dismantles agencies like the CDC, more Democrats say they're relying on professional medical groups like the American Medical Association. But those two are

increasingly seen as partisan sources. More than eight and ten Democrats say that they trust the AMA or the American Academy of Pediatrics. Among Republicans, it's only about half. Kursinger says what this means is the landscape of public health is very fragmented, and people are making choices based on very disparate beliefs. As people are going to different sources of information to make decisions around their health care, we're going to see partisanship playing a big role in what people decide to do. Yuki Noguchi and PR News. Now, one group where there is bipartisan agreement includes the nation's former U.S. Surgeons General. Six of them have issued a joint warning about health and human services, Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. They believe his policies and positions pose a threat to the nation's health.

Under Kennedy's leadership, they write in an opinion piece in the Washington Post, quote, science and expertise have taken a back seat to ideology and misinformation. To talk more about this, we've called on Richard Carmona, who served as U.S. Surgeon General under former President George W. Bush. Let's start with what we heard there in Yuki Noguchi's reporting. How concerned are you that people are putting partisan politics as the guiding factor when it comes to health care decisions and even health care policymaking? We're very concerned, and a lot of that is because people have reverted to their instinctual tribes. But the problem is that the mistrust is caused by these very people who are ostensibly leading us, where they've dismantled the agencies that had real scientists who provided information and instead replaced it with ideology.

Mr. Kennedy has a long history of making very unusual remarks about vaccines, medications, food that have no scientific basis. And if this continues, we'll see vaccine rates will drop. We're already seeing diseases that usually we don't see coming back like measles. People will die. And the ramifications are significant. Now, in the editorial you wrote with your peers, it said that you took two sacred oaths as physicians who swore to care for your patients and then as public servants who committed to

protecting the health of all Americans. So, doctor, how do you continue to do that when you have the head of HHS seemingly ignoring science? It is very frustrating for all of us, and we've had many conversations, recognizing that it is unprecedented for a group of former surgeons general to take on its government and say, you're wrong. And the reason is, is that all of the people who served as the guardrails, the scientists at CDC at NIH, other organizations, they've been dismissed, fired, or let go. The ones that are there worried about intimidation and coercion if they don't fall in line with the ideology. That is all detrimental to the health, safety, and security of our nation. Dr. If the United States is indeed as divided as it's made out to be, your warning

will be taken as legitimate and dire by one camp, and then by the other camp, maybe not worth putting any stock in. So who exactly is this warning intended for? We understand that it's so partisan. Some of us have worked in Democratic administrations and some of us in Republican administrations. And we respected that leadership. We were always able to render an honest opinion about the best science that could be made into policy. So for now, we feel that the power of all of us together, a surgeons general, and focusing on the best science, will be able to maybe at least hit the pause button for some people who are extreme in either direction and start to see that we have no ulterior motive. What do you make of the fact that there is currently no U.S. Surgeon General?

Well, they're having a problem because they bought forth a young lady who has never finished training, is non-board certified, no active medical license, but this is the candidate that they are still attempting to bring forward to be Sergeant General of the United States. And we think it would be a grave mistake. And you're talking about Casey means she has been nominated. Yes. No hearings have been set up to confirm her. She did not finish her surgical residency and her medical license is inactive as of January 1st, 2024. Yeah. Doctor, there are over 77 million people who voted for Donald Trump. Some because they knew Trump was going to nominate RFK Jr. as health secretary. So what do you say to those people who feel his approach is exactly what health agencies such as CDC and FDA

need right now. Let me put it in this perspective. Some of the things that Secretary Kennedy wants, I think, are good ones. You know, the taking additives out of certain foods, to get back to eating, farm to table, all are good. The real issue, though, is these issues which are germane to improving the health of the nation are hidden within some very caustic, divisive rhetoric. And so I think that if he was able to handle this as a leader should, without intimidation, without coercion, to make his case, we could align around that. But most of the things he said are so outrageous that you lose sight of the few good things that he's talked about. That's Dr. Richard Carmona. He was U.S. Surgeon General under former President George W. Bush. Dr. Thank you.

Thank you. Appreciate the opportunity. Before we wrap up a reminder, you can find more coverage of the Trump. Trump administration on the NPR Politics podcast, where you can hear NPR's political reporters break down the day's biggest political news with new episodes every weekday afternoon. And thanks, as always, to our NPR Plus supporters who hear every episode of the show without sponsored messages. You can learn more at plus.npr.org. I'm Scott Detrow.

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