Online Public Relations Thoughts

 Nothing hurts a contention more than one of its supposed proponents disavowing it.  Consider, for example, Dr. Anthony Fauci going public with a statement that his words in a Trump-for-President TV ad were taken out of context.  Fauci has more credibility in matters of the coronavirus than Trump, and Fauci says he never supported the administration's statements about COVID-19.  In fact, Fauci says he has remained studiously apolitical over his decades of dealing with infectious diseases.  Where does that leave the administration?  They can try to bull through and claim Fauci did support them.  They can take down the ad.  They can apologize for misappropriating his remarks.  They almost certainly won't fess up to taking his words out of context and express sorrow for doing it.  This is no time for weakness, not with the President running behind.  But, it creates a credibility gap that is hard to cross, and it is bad PR.  That isn't the first time this administration has created its own trouble.