Have you see that new ad featuring Dr. Anthony Fauci saying nice things about Donald Trump’s handling of the coronavirus?
If you have, you probably won’t be surprised to learn it was edited out of context.
“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, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, said today in a statement.
The ad includes a brief clip of Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, saying, “I can’t imagine that anybody could be doing more.”
Fauci’s comment was made during an interview in March with Fox News.
The date of his remarks is not noted in the ad.
A lot of things have happened since March that have soured Fauci’s views of how Trump has handled the pandemic.
“In my nearly five decades of public service, I have never publicly endorsed any political candidate,” Fauci, 79, said in his statement.
As a leading member of the White House task force on the coronavirus, the 79-year-old doctor has frequently had to walk a fine line in attempting to clarify – or correct – Trump’s often incautious assertions about the disease or the treatments and vaccines being developed against Covid-19.
Fauci has at times aroused Trump’s ire, as when the president in April retweeted a message containing the hashtag #FireFauci – before publicly insisting the doctor was doing a great job.
Trump has been widely criticized for his response to the coronavirus pandemic which has claimed the lives of more than 214,000 Americans so far – the highest death toll for the virus in the world.
The 30-second spot has aired heavily in Michigan and Arizona, two battleground states where Trump is trailing in most opinion polls.
Last week, the president was also criticized for downplaying the deadly illness after he claimed he was feeling ‘great’ and told Americans not to be afraid of the virus after he was returned home from a three-day stint at Walter Reed Medical Center.
Earlier on Sunday, ten days after he tested positive, Trump announced he has been cured of COVID-19 claiming he now has ‘protective glow’ due to his supposed new ‘immunity’ to the virus.
‘Once you recover, you’re immune,’ Trump told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo on ‘Sunday Morning Futures’ in a phone interview. ‘Now you have a president that’s immune.’
Moments after the interview he tweeted: ‘A total and complete sign off from White House Doctors yesterday. That means I can’t get it (immune), and can’t give it. Very nice to know!!!’
Twitter flagged the tweets as ‘misleading’ – which the social media site has done on several other posts from the president in the last year.
The disclaimer said Trump violated its company’s rules about spreading potentially harmful information related to the virus and pandemic.
The disclaimer now permanently attached to the post reads: ‘This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules about spreading misleading and potentially harmful information related to COVID-19. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public’s interest for the Tweet to remain accessible.’
It also prompts users to ‘learn more’ in a link that directs to a page on ‘helping people find reliable information’ about COVID-19.
The advertisement was released by the Trump campaign last week, after the president was discharged from Walter Reed hospital following treatment for complications from the virus.
Trump responded on Twitter that the favorable comments “are indeed Dr. Fauci’s own words,” adding that “many people agree…..And now come the Vaccines & Cures, long ahead of projections!”