Dr. Fauci says his inclusion in Trump COVID-19 ad was misleading

In over four decades of service, Fauci told CNN, he has 'never publicly endorsed any political candidate.'

Oct 12, 2020

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at NIH, testifies on Capitol Hill. (Photo by Graeme Jennings- Pool/Getty Images)

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is blasting the campaign to reelect President Donald Trump for taking his words out of context for a new commercial.

“In my nearly five decades of public service, I have never publicly endorsed any political candidate. 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,” Fauci said exclusively in a statement to CNN when asked if he agreed to be featured in the commercial.

In the ad, titled “Carefully,” Fauci is seen saying, “I can’t imagine that … anybody could be doing more.” The clip, which appears to endorse the president’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, was taken from an interview with Fox News in March.

A voiceover says “President Trump is recovering from the coronavirus, and so is America.”

“Together, we rose to meet the challenge, protecting our seniors, getting them life-saving drugs in record time, sparing no expense,” it contends.

In the original Fox News interview, Fauci was discussing how hard he and the federal COVID-19 task force were working to levy a response to the virus.

“Since the beginning, that we even recognized what this was, I have been devoting almost full time on this,” Fauci said at the time. “I’m down at the White House virtually every day with the task force. It’s every single day. So, I can’t imagine that under any circumstances that anybody could be doing more.”

Dr. Fauci is not the first to claim that misrepresentation in Trump campaign materials.

Four tenants were interviewed about their experiences with the New York City Housing Authority, and their video was featured during the Republican National Convention with the purpose of bashing NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio.

The women later said they are not Trump supporters, and they were never told that the video would be used in the convention.

Just last week, the families of civil rights icons Jackie Robinson and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. also criticized the campaign for using the images of their loved ones to further his message.

“The Trump campaign is in opposition to all that Jackie Robinson stood for and believed in,” Robinson’s daughter, Sharon Robinson, tweeted Thursday. “We’re insulted and demand that his image be removed!”

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