Dr. Anthony Fauci appeared on CNN on Monday where he was asked about a recent campaign ad released by the Trump campaign where they use his words to spread their agenda about the coronavirus outbreak.
According to Fauci, the ad takes his words out of context and should be immediately taken down.
“I think it’s really unfortunate and really disappointing that they did that. It is so clear that I am not a political person, and I have never either directly or indirectly endorsed a political candidate,” Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Monday afternoon.
“To take a completely out-of-context statement and put it in what is obviously a political campaign ad, I thought, was really very disappointing,” Fauci added.
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Fauci was referring to an ad the Trump campaign released last week after the president was discharged from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for treatment of COVID-19.
The 30-second spot seeks to paint a rosy picture of the Trump administration’s response to the pandemic and features a clip of Fauci saying, “I can’t imagine that anybody could be doing more.”
Fauci had spoken out about the ad over the weekend as well, claiming that his remarks were taken out of context and that he did not give permission to the campaign to feature him in the ad.
“The comments attributed to me without my permission in the GOP campaign ad were taken out of context from a broad statement I made months ago about the efforts of federal public health officials,” he said.
Dr. Anthony Fauci says “it’s really unfortunate and really disappointing” that the Trump campaign featured him in an ad touting the President’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
He tells @jaketapper that he thinks the ad should be taken down. https://t.co/oDDlgwvCkE pic.twitter.com/JLTbTVhJ7o
— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) October 12, 2020
