Dr Fauci says use of his quotes in Trump ad were 'taken out of context'

Dr Anthony Fauci

The top US disease expert has criticised the use of an interview clip of him in a Trump election campaign ad, saying his comments were taken out of context.

Dr. Anthony Fauci is the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and has been at the head of the USA's response to Covid-19.

He has attempted to stay out of politics since the pandemic began.

The advert was released last week and praises the Trump administration's response to the pandemic and highlights the president's personal recovery from the virus.

The 30-second ad contains a clip of Dr Fauci, speaking in March, where he says “I can’t imagine that anybody could be doing more. "

During the interview, he was discussing the broader effort, including by the White House coronavirus task force, but also his department and other top healthcare officials.

“In my nearly five decades of public service, I have never publicly endorsed any political candidate,” Dr Fauci said in a statement 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,” his statement added.

Mr Trump tweeted on Sunday rebuking Dr Fauci's statement saying: “They are indeed Dr. Fauci’s own words. We have done a ‘phenomenal’ job, according to certain governors.”

The president and Dr Fauchi have had a difficult relationship after initially working well together at the start of the pandemic.

As the president moved his focus away from locking down the nation to focusing on the economic recovery he has often clashed with Dr Fauci's insistence on combating the spread of the virus.

The USA has had over 214,000 deaths from Covid-19 - the highest in the world.

The president is facing a tough re-election campaign, with many Americans not approving of how the president has handled the pandemic.