Anthony Fauci accuses Trump campaign of twisting his word in new advertisement

United States’ top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci accused the Trump campaign of taking his words "out of context" in an advertisement on Sunday, October 11. As per reports, the 30-second ad clip has used an excerpt from Fauci’s statement to praise US President Donald Trump's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Fauci has now clarified that he had lauded efforts of federal health officials and not the president. 

“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,” ANI quoted Fauci's statement to CNN. 

Read: Fauci 'strongly Suspicious' Of Trump Receiving Experimental Antibody Cure For COVID-19

Read: White House COVID-19 Cases Could Have Been Prevented, Says Fauci

'Infections at White House could have been prevented' 

This comes after Dr. Fauci said White House had hosted a 'super spreader' event where people had gathered in large numbers without wearing masks. The top infectious disease specialist was referring to the White House Rose Garden event held on September 26 where US President Donald Trump named Amy Coney Barrett as his nomination for Supreme Court.

"We had a super spreader event in the White House and it was in a situation where people were crowded together, were not wearing masks. So the data speak for themselves," said Dr. Fauci. 

US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania announced testing positive for COVID-19 on October 2. After that, several Republican leaders reported testing positive, including some of the closest aides of Trump. The US President spent three days at Walter Reed military hospital before being discharged. Trump left the hospital wearing a mask, but he took it off while posing for a picture and told Americans that it is like just another "flu". 

Read: Fauci 'cautiously Optimistic' For Year End Vaccine

Read: Dr. Fauci: Avoid Large Gatherings Without Masks

Image credits: AP