‘Words Taken Out of Context’: Dr Fauci on Trump’s Ad Campaign
In response to the ad, Dr Fauci stated that he has never publicly endorsed any political candidate.
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Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has called out United States President Donald Trump’s campaign ad for taking his words out of context.
The campaign ad for the US presidential elections 2020 was released on 10 October, following Trump’s discharge from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after being treated for COVID-19.
The ad talks about Trump and America 'recovering’ from the virus, and praises the President’s efforts in handling the pandemic. This is followed by a clip of Dr.\ Fauci, saying, “I can't imagine that anybody could be doing more.”
In response, Dr Fauci expressed his disapproval of the ad stating that in his five decades of public service, he has never publicly endorsed any political candidate.
Dr Fauci’s clip has been taken from an interview with Fox News, conducted in the month of March, in which he speaks about the coordinated efforts of the White House task force in mitigating the virus.
"We've never had a threat like this. The coordinated response has been...There are a number of adjectives to describe it -- impressive, I think is one of them. We're talking about all hands on deck. I, as one of many people on a team, I'm not the only person," he had said in the interview, at the time.
"Since the beginning, that we even recognised what this was, I have been devoting almost full time on this. 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,” he had added.
In response to Dr Fauci, Trump campaign’s communications director Tim Murtaugh stated, "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."
Trump also took to Twitter, to say that they were indeed Dr Fauci’s own words.
Dr Fauci has expressed disapproval of the President’s take on the virus several times. Earlier, he had called the White House ceremony announcing Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination to the Supreme Court a “superspreader event,” according to The New York Times.
He had also called out Trump’s anti-mask stance. While in the beginning of the pandemic, he too had discouraged the general public from rushing out to buy masks. Over time with a better understanding of the virus, the position had changed.
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