Dr. Anthony Fauci says he’s being taken “out of context” in a new ad out from President Donald Trump that quotes the disease specialist saying, “I can’t imagine that . . . anybody could be doing more” which leaves the viewer under the impression that he’s talking about the president fighting the virus:
“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,” Dr. Fauci says in a new statement.https://t.co/PDJnXD7GdQ
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) October 11, 2020
He added that the Trump campaign did not have his permission to use the quote and that in his “5 decades of public service, I have never publicly endorsed nor do I now endorse any political candidates”:
Dr. Fauci to @NBCNews on Trump campaign using him in a campaign ad: “They did this without my permission and my comments were taken out of context. In my 5 decades of public service, I have never publicly endorsed nor do I now endorse any political candidates.“
— Kelly O’Donnell (@KellyO) October 11, 2020
Here’s the ad:
The Trump campaign is being accused of “misleadingly” clipping the segment:
These are only Fauci’s “own words” if you misleadingly clip them. https://t.co/hwDXb27VoG https://t.co/vqlf9XEZ0h
— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) October 11, 2020
But, it’s not so misleading:
Oh this is such a stupid quibble. Fauci was talking about the Task Force….that Trump put together.
Why wouldn’t Trump take credit for the work of his own task force? https://t.co/aBq7rnEiM9
— Politics is Broken (@MattCover) October 12, 2020
Here’s the full quote via CNN:
Though no date is provided in the ad, Fauci’s quote is from an interview with Fox News in March. During that interview, Fauci praised the White House coronavirus task force’s round-the-clock effort to respond to the pandemic, which he says included numerous White House meetings and late-night phone calls.
“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,” Fauci said at the time. “Since the beginning, that we even recognized 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.”
There are other examples of Dr. Fauci praising President Trump, too. Should he use those instead:
“Would you agree that the task force and the president took the outbreak very seriously from the beginning, taking unprecedented action, saving millions of American lives as a result”
Dr. Fauci: “Yes.” pic.twitter.com/1RI6hVZqqI
— Trump War Room – Text TRUMP to 88022 (@TrumpWarRoom) October 11, 2020
Or this one:
Dr. Fauci said in March that the Trump Administration was doing everything possible to fight the coronavirus.
“I believe so… In the context of what we’re being challenged with, I think everybody’s doing really well,” Dr. Fauci said.pic.twitter.com/TtsKJpZTQ2
— Trump War Room – Text TRUMP to 88022 (@TrumpWarRoom) October 11, 2020
And we’ve just about had it with Dr. Fauci being misunderstood:
“Masks are silly,” Fauci can get over himself now. He’s lauded the President’s response from day one. Now he’s bothered by his actual words showing up in a campaign ad? Pahleez.
— Joe Pags Pagliarulo (@JoeTalkShow) October 11, 2020
Remember when he told young and healthy people to go on cruises?
Also Fauci — ‘Go on that cruise.’ Enough deifying this guy. https://t.co/CwL67dfhX8
— Joe Pags Pagliarulo (@JoeTalkShow) October 11, 2020
The Trump campaign released a statement saying, “The words spoken are accurate, and directly from Dr. Fauci’s mouth”:
Trump campaign spox @TimMurtaugh responds:
“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.” https://t.co/RywRvwwkSv
— Felicia Sonmez (@feliciasonmez) October 11, 2020
Murtaugh adds: “As Dr. Fauci recently testified in the Senate, President Trump took the virus seriously from the beginning, acted quickly, and saved lives.”
— Felicia Sonmez (@feliciasonmez) October 11, 2020
The president agrees!
They are indeed Dr. Fauci’s own words. We have done a “phenomenal” job, according to certain governors. Many people agree…And now come the Vaccines & Cures, long ahead of projections! https://t.co/ANqKL4eBqJ
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 11, 2020
The add, according to the campaign, is not coming down:
A Trump campaign spokesperson told @NBCNews that the campaign will continue to run the ad, despite Dr. Fauci’s objections.
— NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt (@NBCNightlyNews) October 11, 2020
But this does set up a potential fight next week:
Apparently, the Trump campaign thinks it’s smart politics to pick a fight with Dr. Fauci three weeks before Election Day. Their ad is misleading and Fauci says his words “were taken out of context.” Remember: 68% of Americans say they trust Fauci, and 62% distrust Trump on Covid.
— Marshall Cohen (@MarshallCohen) October 11, 2020
Stay tuned. . .
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