CNN – Dr. Anthony Fauci said Monday that the Trump campaign should take down the political advertisement that he’s featured in, calling his presence in the spot “really unfortunate and really disappointing.”
Fauci’s latest comments come one day after he told CNN he did not consent to being featured in the Trump team’s new advertisement and that his words were taken out of context.
The nation’s leading infectious disease expert told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “The Lead”:
“It’s so clear that I’m not a political person. And I have never — either directly or indirectly — endorsed a political candidate. And 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.”
The 30-second ad, which is airing in Michigan, touts Trump’s personal experience with the virus and uses a quote from Fauci in an attempt to make it appear as if he is praising Trump’s response.
“President Trump is recovering from the coronavirus, and so is America,” the ad’s narrator says. “Together we rose to meet the challenge, protecting our seniors, getting them life-saving drugs in record time, sparing no expense.”
The ad then flashes to an interview with Fauci in which he says, “I can’t imagine that anybody could be doing more … “
But Fauci told CNN in a statement Sunday that “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.”
In response to Fauci saying the ad took his words out of context, Trump campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh said:
“These are Dr. Fauci’s own words. The video is from a nationally broadcast television interview in which Dr. Fauci was praising the work of the Trump Administration. The words spoken are accurate, and directly from Dr. Fauci’s mouth.” Read more.
What Dr. Fauci actually said:
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