Fauci says Trump ad uses his words out of context; campaign says comments are used properly

National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci in a statement said that his remarks included in a Trump campaign ad were pulled from their context.

"In my nearly five decades of public service, I have never publicly endorsed any political candidate," he said in the statement after being asked if he had consented to be included in the political advertisement, according to CNN. "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." 

In the ad, Fauci is shown saying these words: "I can't imagine that...anybody could be doing more." 

The outlet reported that Fauci's comment was taken from a March Fox News interview.

"I'm down at the White House virtually every day with the task force. I'm connected by phone throughout the day and into the night—when I say night I'm talking 12, one, two in the morning—I'm not the only one, there's a whole group of us that are doing that," Fauci said in an interview with conservative host Mark Levin that CBS News said is the source of the clip. "It's every single day. So I can't imagine that under any circumstances that anybody could be doing more."

The Trump campaign is standing by its advertisement.

“These are Dr. Fauci’s own words," a spokesperson said in a statement, according to reports. "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. As Dr. Fauci recently testified in the Senate, President Trump took the virus seriously from the beginning, acted quickly, and saved lives.”

Fauci, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, rose to national prominence this year amid the COVID-19 public health crisis.

Watch the advertisement below.