WASHINGTON, D.C., USA — The federal government's top expert on infectious diseases says a Trump campaign commercial praising the president's coronavirus response takes his quote out of context.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, tells CNN and NBC News on Sunday that he did not give his permission to include his comments in the ad released last week. He says that he's never endorsed a candidate throughout his 50-year career in public service.
The 30-second advertisement aired after President Donald Trump returned to the White House following treatment for COVID-19 at Walter Reed military hospital in Maryland. It highlights the president's personal experience with the virus and his administration's handling of the pandemic.
The U.S. has more than 7 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, and over 214,000 people have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.
"President Trump is recovering from the coronavirus, and so is America," the ad's narrator says. "Together we rose to meet the challenge, protecting our seniors, getting them life-saving drugs in record time, sparing no expense."
It quotes Fauci saying, "I can't imagine that anybody could be doing more."
However, Fauci wasn't talking about Trump when he made the comments, The Washington Post also reports. He was actually discussing the White House coronavirus task force's workload during an interview in March.
"In my nearly five decades of public service, I have never publicly endorsed any political candidate," Fauci said. "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."
The Trump campaign didn't respond to requests for comment from The Post or CNN.