Fauci: Trump Campaign Is 'In Effect, Harassing Me'

Dr. Anthony Fauci said Monday that, yes, the Trump campaign ad that "butchered his words," as he put it over the weekend, should be taken down. "I think it’s really unfortunate and really disappointing that they did that," Fauci told CNN Monday, per the Hill. "It is so clear that I am not a political person, and I have never either directly or indirectly endorsed a political candidate. To take a completely out-of-context statement and put it in what is obviously a political campaign ad, I thought, was really very disappointing."

He also said the campaign's use of him in the ad without his permission could come back to haunt it, the Daily Beast reports. "By doing this against my will they are, in effect, harassing me,” Fauci said. “Since campaign ads are about getting votes, their harassment of me might have the opposite effect of turning some voters off." He said it would be "outrageous" were he to appear in any future ads. The president's campaign has so far refused to change the ad. (More on it here.)