President Donald Trump’s campaign is reportedly planning on featuring Dr. Anthony Fauci in another ad, even though the infectious disease expert says he did not consent to appear in campaign ads.
During an appearance on CNN on Monday, Fauci addressed the news that the Trump campaign was planning on featuring his comments in a new ad. He said, “You know that would be terrible. I mean, that would be outrageous if they do that. In fact, that might actually come back to backfire on them. I hope they don’t do that.”
“So, I hope they reconsider doing that. If, in fact, they are indeed considering doing that, I hope that they reconsider and not do that,” he added.
Fauci was also asked if he thinks the Trump campaign should take the original ad down, he said, “You know, I think so, Jake. I think it’s really unfortunate and really disappointing that they did that.”
Watch the video below:
"I think it's really disappointing and really disappointing that they did that" — Fauci says the Trump campaign should take down campaign ads that take his words of out context and make it seems like he endorsed the White House coronavirus response pic.twitter.com/aYp0cfluGB
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 12, 2020
He added that the campaign took his comments, praising the whole of government response to the virus, out of context to make it sound like he was praising Trump specifically.
“To take a completely out of context statement, and put it in which is obviously a political campaign ad, I thought was really disappointing,” he said.
The Trump campaign released a new ad over the weekend that focuses on Trump’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak. The ad featured a portion of an interview Fauci gave in March, where he was addressing the government’s response to the outbreak.
However, it was cut to make it appear as though he was specifically praising Trump.
In a statement to CNN on Sunday, Fauci said, “In my nearly five decades of public service, I have never publicly endorsed any political candidate.”
“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,” he added.