Tylenol's reputation among Republicans bounces back after Trump's warnings

Tylenol’s brand reputation has bounced back among Republicans after suffering a blow following President Trump’s warning last fall that pregnant women should not take the medication because of a scientifically unproven risk of autism, according to YouGov data.

Trump made the remark about acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, during an event last September in the Oval Office with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other senior health officials.

Experts swiftly pushed back on the claim, disputing that there was any evidence to support a causal link between the medication and autism development.

A few days later, Dr. Mehmet Oz, who leads the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, attempted to soften Trump’s warning by saying that pregnant women should consult with their doctors and use the medication if they develop a high fever.  

YouGov found that after Trump’s initial comment, the percentage of Republican adults who said they would consider buying Tylenol when in the market next dropped from 48.8 percent to 39.4 percent within five weeks.

Among Democrats, the trend moved in the opposite direction, with a 4.6‑point increase in those saying they would buy the drug within five weeks, bringing consideration to 54.2 percent by early November.

“Rather than a brief spike, the increase held across several weeks, pointing to a widening gap in how different political groups responded to the same set of events,” YouGov wrote.

There was less movement among the general public, moving from 48.2 percent on the day of Trump’s remarks to 45 percent by mid-December.

Additionally, 46 percent of all U.S. adults surveyed, including 50 percent of Democrats and 45.5 percent of Republicans, said they would consider purchasing Tylenol as of Jan. 19.

YouGov also tracked overall public perception of the brand, finding that its combined score — measuring impression, value, quality, satisfaction and recommendation — fell to 31.8 among Republicans in early November before leveling off toward the end of 2025.

A more complex pattern emerged when looking specifically at parents, YouGov noted, with consideration and index scores moving in opposite directions.

Consideration among parents rose sharply from 43.5 percent in late September to a peak of 60.3 percent by mid-October. That trend did not hold, however, with brand consideration now returned almost exactly where it was before Trump’s comments.

The perception of Tylenol dropped to its lowest level of 22.8 by Jan. 6, and though it has rebounded slightly, it remains below its pre-September 2025 level.

“Taken together, the two metrics highlight how different aspects of brand health can move on different timelines: willingness to consider the brand increased in the immediate aftermath, while broader brand sentiment adjusted more gradually over time,” YouGov wrote.

YouGov calculated the metrics using data from its brand-tracking platform, which relies on daily surveys of U.S. adults.