The Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement, led by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has gained attention as a key political force following President Donald Trump’s victory in 2024. A new national survey from Data for Progress and RFK Jr Watch, a project of 314 Action, finds its support is narrow and highly vulnerable.
While many voters say they support MAHA’s general goals, fewer than one in six actually identify with the movement itself and their support drops significantly when voters learn about RFK Jr.’s real actions in office and his policies.
Across key groups, including Independents and swing district voters (who were both oversampled), attitudes toward RFK Jr. and aligned Republican candidates decline sharply after exposure to his record, particularly on issues like rising health care costs, cuts to medical research, and changes to vaccine policy. These findings suggest that MAHA’s appeal is not durable, and weakens quickly when voters hear about its real-world consequences.
The survey asked a national sample of 2,350 likely voters which public health figures they do and do not trust, how they feel about the MAHA movement, and whether they support or oppose various public health proposals. The survey finds:
- RFK Jr. starts the survey underwater, with a plurality of voters saying they do not trust him (-8). By the end of the survey, after voters learn about his actions as health secretary, his favorability drops among every tested subgroup of voters, most by double-digit margins. “Soft MAHA” voters — those who are supportive of MAHA goals but do not identify with the movement — decrease the most (-18 points), while Independents also decrease significantly (-17 points).
- When voters were asked directly whether they would support a Republican candidate aligned with RFK Jr.’s public health approach, support was already net negative and declined sharply after voters learned more about his record — from net -12 to net -36 overall, including a drop from -22 to -51 among Independents.
- The most effective critiques of RFK Jr’s actions as health secretary focus on his failure to stand up to Big Pharma and lower costs, funding cuts for Medicaid and medical research, firing public health experts, and upending vaccine guidance.
- Voters prefer candidates with backgrounds in science and medicine over those aligned with the MAHA agenda — by more than a 15-point margin, with far stronger overall support and much less opposition. 314 Action was founded 10 years ago to elect STEM candidates to office.
- Voters strongly trust doctors, scientists, and vaccines, while MAHA government officials, podcasters, and health influencers on social media have the lowest levels of trust.
- MAHA lacks a true base: fewer than 1 in 6 voters identify with the movement, while roughly one-third outright reject it.
- About half of Independents (51%) and swing district voters (50%) say MAHA is not delivering on its promises.
Trust of Key Figures in Public Health
First, the survey presented voters with various health-related figures and organizations, and asked them about their level of trust in each.
Voters nearly unanimously trust nurses (92%), their personal or family doctor (90%), and doctors in general (86%). More than 2 in 3 voters also trust scientists (79%) and medical researchers at major universities (76%).
Meanwhile, a minority of voters say they trust RFK Jr. (40%), Dr. Oz (36%), Mike Tyson (29%), and “podcasters or health influencers on social media” (29%).
Perceptions of the MAHA Movement
Nearly 2 in 5 voters say they support many of MAHA’s goals but do not identify with the movement (39%), including half of Republicans (50%) and 40% of swing district voters. Only 14% of voters consider themselves to be part of the MAHA movement, including 29% of Republicans and just 13% of swing district voters.
More than 1 in 3 voters (34%) — including 33% of swing district voters — do not support the MAHA movement.
Candidates with a background in science, technology, engineering, or math (+58) or who are doctors or nurses (+55) perform better than candidates who support the Make America Healthy Again agenda (+11) or come from a family of politicians (-28).
Broadly, voters respond most favorably to candidates for public office who support removing harmful toxins from food (more likely to support this candidate by a +76-point margin), protecting federal funding for medical research (+69), and paid family and medical leave (+66). Candidates who support limiting the use of pesticides in agriculture (+61), making sure kids are not overmedicated (+61), and requiring all students in public schools to receive vaccines for certain diseases (+57) also perform well.
RFK Jr. Opposes Most Popular Public Health Policies, Including Research and Childhood Vaccinations
RFK Jr. has publicly opposed three of the most popular policies that voters support in this survey, including funding public research for cures (88% support, 64% strongly support), requiring routine childhood vaccines (79% support, 54% strongly support), and limiting pesticide use in agriculture (76% support, 47% strongly support).
The least popular policies include a variety of funding cuts, herd immunity, and limiting access to Medicare or Medicaid. These trends hold among swing district voters and “soft MAHA” voters — those who do not identify as MAHA but say they support the movement’s goals — as well.
About Half of Independents and Swing Voters Say MAHA Failed to Deliver on Promises
When provided with two contrasting statements about the MAHA movement, about half of Independents (51%) and swing district voters (50%) say that MAHA is not delivering on its promises. Overall, more voters (49%) side with a statement about the MAHA movement not delivering on its promises than with a statement about the movement being common sense and bringing necessary change (43%).
How Information About RFK Jr.’s Past Actions Affects Voter Favorability
In the survey, voters were informed about nine actions taken by RFK Jr., including that he “withdrew longstanding guidelines for routine childhood vaccines,” “fired thousands of public health experts,” “claimed autism is linked to vaccines and Tylenol,” and “used artificial intelligence (AI) to cite fake health studies.”
Before receiving this information, voters were about evenly split on their favorability toward RFK Jr., with a majority of Republicans viewing him favorably, and a majority of Democrats and a plurality of Independents rating him unfavorably. By the end of the survey, more than 6 in 10 voters view RFK Jr. unfavorably, including 66% of Independents and 86% of Democrats.
By the end of the survey, every tested subgroup decreased its favorability of RFK Jr., most by double-digit margins. “Soft MAHA” voters — those who are supportive of MAHA goals but do not identify with the movement — decrease the most (-18 points). Independents (-17), Latino voters (-12), Black voters (-12), white voters (-11), Republicans (-11), and Democrats (-10) also decrease by double-digit margins.
Evaluating the Most Effective Criticisms of RFK Jr.’s Tenure
Data for Progress and RFK Jr. Watch also conducted a message test to identify the messages that voters find most convincing as criticisms of RFK Jr.’s handling of public health.
The top-performing message, which ranks as the most convincing message among Democrats, Independents, Republicans, and “soft MAHA” voters, focuses on cost and corporate greed:
Top-performing message:
- Cost: Americans are paying more and more for healthcare and prescription drugs while pharmaceutical corporations rake in record profits. Instead of standing up to Big Pharma, RFK Jr.’s policies are making it harder to lower costs and protect families’ pocketbooks.
Messages that focus on Medicaid cuts and their impacts on families, as well as the impacts of funding cuts to public medical research, are among the top three most effective public health messages:
- Medicaid: Republican lawmakers, with the support of RFK Jr. and the Trump administration, passed the largest cuts to Medicaid in history, putting rural hospitals and community clinics at risk of closure. Families in small towns and working-class communities could lose access to the care they depend on.
- Research Cuts: Under RFK Jr., billions of dollars in funding for cancer, Alzheimer’s, and other medical research have been cut, halting clinical trials and delaying potential cures. Patients and families are paying the price for political decisions.
The best-performing message among swing district voters specifically relates to how the U.S. once led the world in public health innovation:
- Global Leader: The U.S. used to be a respected leader in the scientific community, making and sharing research discoveries that changed the world. Now, we are no longer a part of the World Health Organization and we have canceled research studies. We are losing our reputation as innovative leaders.
Weaker messages connect RFK Jr. with President Donald Trump, describe his hypocrisy around pesticide use, and discuss the profits he has made from trademarking MAHA.
Please see the “Survey Methodology” appendix below to read the full language for all 11 messages.
Conclusion
This survey demonstrates that support for the MAHA movement is broad but shallow. While many voters say they support its general goals, very few identify with the movement itself and around 1 in 3 outright reject it. Support for MAHA declines significantly as voters learn more about RFK Jr.’s actions as Health and Human Services Secretary, particularly on issues like healthcare costs, cuts to medical research, and vaccine policy. Messages that highlight these real-world impacts, especially around affordability and standing up to Big Pharma, are among the most effective.
Among swing district voters, this dynamic is especially clear. While many express initial openness to MAHA’s goals, they do not believe the movement is delivering on its promises and strongly prefer candidates with backgrounds in science or medicine over those aligned with the MAHA agenda. At the same time, voters place overwhelming trust in doctors, nurses, scientists, and vaccines, while expressing low trust in MAHA-aligned figures, influencers, and political appointees.
These findings highlight clear vulnerabilities for RFK Jr. and the MAHA movement. Voters strongly oppose cuts to Medicaid and medical research, and continue to support policies like funding research for cures and requiring routine childhood vaccinations.
For candidates, including those in competitive and Republican-leaning districts, this creates a clear opportunity: voters are receptive to contrast messaging that focuses on the real-world consequences of RFK Jr.’s policies — particularly rising costs, reduced access to care, and threats to scientific research.
Survey Methodology
From March 5 to 12, 2026, Data for Progress and RFK Jr. Watch, a project of 314 Action, conducted a survey of 2,350 likely voters nationally using web panel respondents. The sample was weighted to be representative of likely voters by age, gender, education, race, geography, and recalled presidential vote. The survey was conducted in English. The margin of error associated with the sample size is ±2 percentage points. Results for subgroups of the sample are subject to increased margins of error. Partisanship reflected in tabulations is based on self identified party affiliation, not partisan registration. For more information please visit dataforprogress.org/our-methodology.
This sample is also weighted to account for oversamples of self-identified Independents and swing districts voters with unweighted Ns of 1,121 and 499, respectively, to ensure proportional representation of likely voters.
“Swing districts” here are defined as congressional districts identified by the DCCC as “Districts in Play” or “Frontline.
Maxdiff Message Language Tested
| Abbreviation | Message |
| Cost | Americans are paying more and more for healthcare and prescription drugs while pharmaceutical corporations rake in record profits. Instead of standing up to Big Pharma, RFK Jr.’s policies are making it harder to lower costs and protect families’ pocketbooks. |
| Medicaid | Republican lawmakers, with the support of RFK Jr. and the Trump administration, passed the largest cuts to Medicaid in history, putting rural hospitals and community clinics at risk of closure. Families in small towns and working-class communities could lose access to the care they depend on. |
| Research Cuts | Under RFK Jr., billions of dollars in funding for cancer, Alzheimer’s, and other medical research have been cut, halting clinical trials and delaying potential cures. Patients and families are paying the price for political decisions. |
| Vulnerable | Under RFK Jr.’s leadership, thousands of public health experts have been fired and long-standing vaccine guidance has been upended. These actions weaken our public health system and leave families more vulnerable to outbreaks. |
| Asset Framing of Cost | RFK Jr. does not understand that we will all financially benefit from the government investing in solutions that keep all Americans healthy, rather than leaving health up to each of us. The money we put into medical research or community health means we save more money down the line by keeping people out of hospitals. |
| Conspiracy | RFK Jr. is moving the country away from science, toward conspiracy theories and debunked misinformation. For decades, scientists have reached a consensus based on rigorous research. Now, he is pretending none of that matters and making up his own theories. |
| Global Leader | The U.S. used to be a respected leader in the scientific community, making and sharing research discoveries that changed the world. Now, we are no longer a part of the World Health Organization and we have canceled research studies. We are losing our reputation as innovative leaders. |
| Abandoned | The Republican government is abandoning you and the people who need the most help. From closing rural clinics to defunding cancer research, RFK Jr.’s policies mean Americans won’t get the care they need. |
| Trump | RFK Jr. and President Trump are working closely together with the same goals: putting their own interests first. That’s why Trump appointed RFK Jr. to be Health Secretary. They work together using their political offices to make money and gain fame at any cost to Americans. |
| Pesticides | RFK Jr. built his reputation claiming pesticides cause cancer, but after joining the Trump administration, he defended policies that increase pesticide production and protect large agricultural corporations. |
| Trademark MAHA | RFK Jr. tried to trademark “Make America Healthy Again” and transferred the rights to a company run by a close ally. That company has applied to use the MAHA brand for products like supplements and even cryptocurrency, turning a public health movement into a business opportunity. |