WASHINGTON, D.C. — Dr. Anthony Fauci, the federal government’s top infectious disease expert, said Sunday he did not agree to be featured in a new Trump campaign ad and that his comment in the video was taken out of context.

What You Need To Know

  • Dr. Anthony Fauci says he did not agree to be featured in a new Trump campaign ad and that his comment in the video was taken out of context

  • Fauci is shown in the ad, which touts President Trump's response to the coronavirus pandmic, saying, “I can’t imagine that anybody could be doing more”

  • Fauci, the federal government’s top infectious disease expert, says he made the comment months ago about the efforts of federal public health officials

  • The Trump campaign insists the video shows Fauci praising the work of the Trump administration

The ad seeks to tout President Donald Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, appears at the end of the commercial saying, “I can’t imagine that anybody could be doing more.”

In a statement released to CNN on Sunday, however, 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.”

Trump campaign Communications Director Tim Murtaugh responded by saying: “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."

The interview in which Fauci made the comment was with Fox News in March, in the early weeks of the pandemic.

The full context: “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. 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 has reportedly been tension between Trump and Fauci during the pandemic, with the doctor sometimes delivering public remarks that the president did not like to hear, including about school reopenings and the timeline for a vaccine.

This summer, it appeared the White House had coordinated a campaign to discredit Fauci, with Trump pointing out times he thought Fauci was wrong, comments that were echoed in a list reportedly compiled and circulated by White House aides and in an op-ed written by trade adviser Peter Navarro. 

Trump, however, has insisted he has a good relationship with Fauci.