President Donald Trump on Tuesday fired off a tweet attacking Dr. Anthony Fauci after the nation’s top infectious disease expert criticized the president’s reelection campaign for featuring him in a political ad without his permission.
“Tony’s pitching arm is far more accurate than his prognostications,” Trump wrote referring to Fauci’s bungled first pitch on Major League Baseball’s Opening Day in July.
“‘No problem, no masks’. WHO no longer likes Lockdowns – just came out against,” the president added before referring to himself in the third person. “Trump was right. We saved 2,000,000 USA lives!!!”
Trump’s attack against Fauci represents his latest effort to cast doubt on the credibility of one of his administration’s most trusted public health officials.
The president’s tweet also seemingly undermines the 30-second ad his campaign released Saturday, which prominently features Fauci assessing Trump’s handling of the coronavirus.
Fauci on Monday blasted the Trump campaign for using his words “out of context” and without his permission for a political ad, emphasizing that he has never endorsed a political candidate during his more than three decades as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
“To take a completely out of context statement and put it in which is obviously a political campaign ad, I thought was really very disappointing,” he told CNN in an interview Monday.
The Trump campaign has defended its decision to feature Fauci in the ad, as has the president, who tweeted Sunday: “They are indeed Dr. Fauci’s own words.”
Read Trump’s tweet below:
Actually, Tony’s pitching arm is far more accurate than his prognostications. “No problem, no masks”. WHO no longer likes Lockdowns – just came out against. Trump was right. We saved 2,000,000 USA lives!!! https://t.co/YyLyCsbZ7a
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 13, 2020
