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The Trump campaign selectively edited comments made by a top Covid-19 scientist to make it look like he was applauding the president’s handling of the crisis.
The campaign aired a television ad with comments made by virologist Anthony Fauci, in which he seemed to say that “I can’t imagine anyone could be doing more” to combat the coronavirus.
But Dr. Fauci responded by saying that the comments were taken out of context and that he had not endorsed and would not endorse a political candidate.
The comments come from a March interview that Dr. Fauci gave to Fox News and was referring to himself and health officials, not the president.
“In my nearly five decades of public service, I have never publicly endorsed any political candidate,” Fauci said in a statement.
“The comments attributed to me without my permission in the Republican campaign ad were taken out of context from a comprehensive statement I made months ago about the efforts of federal public health officials,” his statement added.
(Image: Getty Images)
Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh defended the announcement in a statement Sunday, saying Fauci’s words “are accurate and straight from the mouth of Dr. Fauci.
“As Dr. Fauci recently testified in the Senate, President Trump took the virus seriously from the start, acted swiftly and saved lives,” Murtaugh’s statement added.
Trump himself echoed that sentiment in a tweet Sunday, saying: “In fact, these are Dr. Fauci’s own words. We have done a ‘phenomenal’ job, according to certain governors.”
Fauci and Trump have not always agreed on how to handle the pandemic, which has infected nearly 7.7 million people in the United States and killed more than 214,000. Opinion polls show that a majority of voters disapprove of the president’s handling of the crisis.
On Friday, Fauci described a White House event on Sept. 26, after which several attendees, including Trump, tested positive for the virus, as a “super-spread event.”
ABC News said Sunday it had asked the White House to allow Fauci to appear on “The Week,” but the administration refused to make him or other members of the task force available.
Alyssa Farah, the White House communications director, later said on Twitter that Fauci had made other media appearances earlier in the week, denying claims that he had been “gagged.”
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