Grouchy Fauci hits back at ‘ fake ad’

WASHINGTON: America’s top government scientist Anthony Fauci said on Monday ( AEST) that an ad aired by Donald Trump’s re- election campaign was deliberately edited to make him seem to endorse the President’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

“In my nearly five decades of public service I have never publicly endorsed any political candidate,” Dr Fauci, the longtime director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, said.

The 30- second campaign ad cites Mr Trump’s experience with w the virus.

“P r e s i d e n t Trump is recovering from the coronavirus, and so is America,” it says – before including a brief b clip in which Dr Fauci ( pictured) appears to praise the President’s handling of the pandemic.

“I can’t imagine that anybody could be doing more,” Dr Fauci is shown as saying, creating the clear impression that he is referring to Mr Trump.

But a complete clip of the comments, made during an interview in March, shows the doctor saying: “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.”

In his statement on Monday, Dr 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.”

Trump defended the clip and rebutted the doctor’s criticism. “They are indeed Dr. Fauci’s own words,” he tweeted.