A new campaign ad for the United States President Donald Trump has touted the administration’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic in the country featuring a comment from infectious diseases expert Dr Anthony Fauci.
Fauci, who is also the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that the comments attributed to him in the ad had been taken out of context from a broad statement made months ago, CNN reported.
“In my nearly five decades of public service, I have never publicly endorsed any political candidate,” Fauci said in his statement as quoted by CNN.
The 30-second Trump campaign detailed the US President’s personal experience with the virus.
“President Trump is recovering from the coronavirus, and so is America,” it said. The ad then went on to show a brief clipping of Fauci who said, “I can’t imagine that anybody could be doing more.”
The clip in reality is from an interview given to Fox News in March. Fauci had said the statement in order to appreciate the White House coronavirus task force and its Covid-19 response. The statement was actually about the efforts of federal public health officials.
Responding to Fauci’s statement on being quoted out of context in the campaign, Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh, told CNN, “These are Dr. Fauci’s own words. The video is from a nationally broadcast television interview in which Fauci was praising the work of the Trump Administration. The words spoken are accurate, and directly from Fauci’s mouth.”
“They are indeed Dr. Fauci’s own words. We have done a “phenomenal” job, according to certain governors. Many people agree...And now come the Vaccines & Cures, long ahead of projections!” Trump said in a tweet.