'Fire Fauci': Trump tells Florida rally he will sack coronavirus expert 'a little after the election'

Expert leading US response to coronavirus pandemic has enjoyed a fractious working relationship with president

Donald Trump has told supporters he will fire his administration’s top virus expert, Dr Anthony Fauci, after the crowd at a rally in Miami chanted for him to do so.

Since the start of the pandemic, the president and Dr Fauci have publicly disagreed on a number of points, though the epidemiologist has become a popular figure for his measured advice on tackling Covid-19.  

On Sunday evening, Mr Trump railed against media coverage of the coronavirus crisis, adding that after Tuesday’s election “you won’t hear much about it”. 

As soon as Mr Trump said this, his supporters, many of whom were without masks – started chanting “Fire Fauci”.

Mr Trump stayed silent during the chants, after which he told the crowd: “Don’t tell anybody, but let me wait till a little bit after the election… I appreciate the advice.”  

Over the last few months, relations between the president and the leading expert on the US’s coronavirus taskforce have steadily worsened. 

In an interview with the Washington Post on Sunday, Dr Fauci sought an urgent change in the government’s policy on handling Covid-19, saying the US was “in for a whole lot of hurt", adding: "It’s not a good situation.” 

Referring to the upcoming winters, Dr Fauci said “you could not possibly be positioned more poorly,” and warned that the US could witness over 100,000 new coronavirus cases a day.  

According to the World Health Organisation, the US has recorded over 8.9 million confirmed cases of Covid-19 including 228,185 deaths – with the highest-ever single day spike of 99,356 cases on 1 November compared to 89,048 cases on Saturday.

The interview drew a sharp response from White House spokesperson Judd Deere, who accused Dr Fauci of playing politics three days before the election on 3 November.  

“It’s unacceptable and breaking with all norms for Dr Fauci, a senior member of the President’s coronavirus taskforce and someone who has praised President Trump’s actions throughout this pandemic, to choose three days before an election to play politics,” said the statement.  

He said that as a member of the taskforce, Dr Fauci has a duty to express concerns or push for a change in strategy, “but he’s not done that, instead choosing to criticise the president in the media and make his political leanings known by praising the president’s opponent”.  

Mr Deere said that Dr Fauci “knows that the risks today are dramatically lower than they were only a few months ago with mortality rates falling over 80 per cent”.  

According to US media, Donald Trump last week signed an executive order to create a completely new category of federal employees, Schedule F, which would include government scientists, economists, and others – and allow the president to fire them at will.