Nearly 60 percent of Democrats believe the United States government should force Americans to stay in their homes “at all times except for emergencies” if they are unvaccinated, a new Rasmussen poll released last week showed.
According to the survey, 59 percent of Democratic voters “would favor a government policy requiring that citizens remain confined to their homes at all times, except for emergencies, if they refuse to get a COVID-19 vaccine.”
The same proposition was opposed by 61 percent of all likely voters, including 79 percent of Republicans and 71 percent of unaffiliated voters.
In addition to confining unvaccinated people to their homes, Democrats overwhelmingly agreed with other harsh government responses related to COVID-19. Nearly half of Democrat voters agreed that federal and state governments should impose fines and imprisonment on those who “publicly question the efficacy of the existing COVID-19 vaccines on social media, television, radio, or in online or digital publications.”
Among all voters, including 14 percent of Republicans and 18 percent of unaffiliated voters, 27 percent supported criminal punishment for publicly questioning the COVID-19 vaccine.
Nearly half of Democrat voters would also support governments forcing citizens to “temporarily live in designated facilities or locations” if they refuse to take the COVID-19 vaccine. The same proposal would be opposed by 71 percent of all voters, including 78 percent of Republicans and 64 percent of unaffiliated voters who said they would “Strongly Oppose” forcing unvaccinated people into “designated facilities.”
Again, almost half of Democrat voters – 47 percent – are in favor of governments tracking individuals who refuse to take the COVID-19 vaccine, while 66 percent of all likely voters would be against such a measure.
Twenty-nine percent of Democrats would even go as far as forcibly removing parents’ custody of their children if the parents refuse to take the COVID-19 vaccine.
“After two excruciatingly long years, likely voters are beginning to question the federal government’s handling of the pandemic,” said Chris Talgo, senior editor and research fellow at The Heartland Institute. “First and foremost, likely voters are beginning to sour on Dr. Anthony Fauci, who seems to have lost credibility after countless flip-flops.”
“Moreover, almost half of likely voters oppose President Biden’s vaccine mandates, which seem less about stopping the spread of COVID-19 and more about increasing the power of the federal government,” he continued. “When asked about several other potential strategies, such as fining those who refuse to get vaccinated, the consensus among likely voters is that the federal government should do less, not more.”
