The Verdict and the Vote

Twenty-nine percent of American voters rate the government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic as excellent or good, the lowest mark recorded since Napolitan News Service began tracking the question. Thirty-seven percent rate the response as poor, a new high. Six years after the first lockdown orders, the public’s judgment of the officials who issued them keeps getting harsher.

The numbers come from a Napolitan News Service survey of 1,000 registered voters conducted online by Scott Rasmussen on August 3 and 4, with fieldwork by RMG Research, Inc. Just 7% call the government’s pandemic performance excellent, 22% say good, and 30% settle on fair. The net rating stands at minus 8, down from even in January. In May 2024 the same question drew 43% positive against 27% poor, a net of plus 16. Two years erased 24 points.

The sharper movement came on the question of overreach. Forty-eight percent of voters now say the federal government overreacted to the pandemic in ways that did more harm than good, while 40% disagree. That is a new high, and the first time the yes side has led since Napolitan began asking the question in 2023. As recently as January the split ran 41% yes to 45% no. Rasmussen ties the spike to the release of Dr. Anthony Fauci’s personal diary, and he notes that the survey closed before the newest Fauci texts concerning the Covid vaccine and pregnancy reached the public.

The rest of the ledger reads like a hung jury. Forty-two percent of voters say Covid regulations were driven more by science; 42% say ideology, a split Napolitan reports falls purely along partisan lines. Fauci himself stands at 44% favorable and 41% unfavorable, a slight improvement since December 2025, though the 26% who hold a very unfavorable view of him outnumber the 21% who hold a very favorable one. Asked whether he should be investigated and prosecuted for his role in the pandemic and lockdowns, 39% say yes, 41% say no, and 20% are not sure.

Then comes the finding that should unsettle anyone who believes the argument is won. Offered a choice between a candidate who called lockdowns and mask mandates an important tool to be reinstated if new cases emerge, and one who said those measures did more harm than good and should be avoided, voters picked the mandate candidate 51% to 38%. The margin was six points in January. Today it is 13 points. Sixty-two percent of Republicans back the candidate opposing mandates; 77% of Democrats take the other side.

A plurality of the country says the government’s pandemic response did more harm than good, and a majority of the same country would hand the next emergency to a candidate promising to run the play again. Public opinion has convicted the last lockdown regime and pre-approved the next one. The officials who will draft the next emergency order can read a 13-point margin as clearly as anyone.