Trump Threatens to Fire Fauci Amid New COVID-19 Outbreak
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases speaks as President Donald Trump listens during the daily briefing of the White House Coronavirus Task Force at the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House April 13, 2020 in Washington, DC. On Monday President Trump tweeted that he will be the one to make the decision to re-open the states in conjunction with the Governors and input from others. Alex Wong/Getty Images

U.S. President Donald Trump is threatening that he would fire Dr. Anthony Fauci after Tuesday's election despite the country seeing a new surge of COVID-19 cases since spring.

Trump spoke about his concern on the surging cases of COVID-19 at a campaign rally in Opa-locka, Florida.

The pandemic has killed 231,000 people in the United States and experts are seeing more due to the cold season.

His supporters at the rally then began chanting "Fire Fauci."

Trump then replied to this chant by saying that he would wait a little bit after the election. He added that he appreciated his supporters' advice.

Meanwhile, Democratic bet Joe Biden tweeted later on Monday as a response to Trump's statement.

"We need a president who actually listens to experts like Dr. Fauci," Biden was quoted in an Associated Press News report.

Biden is focusing his campaign on what he said a disastrous federal handling of the pandemic.

As a retort, Trump is accusing of Biden of wanting to impose lockdown on the country to curb the spread of the virus.

Trump's comments on Fauci days before the Election Day ensure that the pandemic will remain the center and focus of the presidential election.

However, despite Trump's threats to Fauci's position, the president cannot directly remove the nation's top infectious disease expert as he is not a presidential appointee.

Trump could fire Fauci by putting pressure on the medical expert's boss, who is Dr. Dr. Francis Collins, or Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, according to AP News.

Previously, Republican president, George W. Bush, awarded Fauci the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Fauci is also considered to have a bipartisan support in Congress. Former President Barrack Obama defended Fauci while campaigning in Atlanta for Biden.

Obama lauded Fauci's public service and said that Trump's reelection could mean that Fauci would be removed from the position, who is the person who can actually help the country get hold of the pandemic.

Fauci on handling the pandemic

Fauci has become outspoken that Trump has ignored his medical advice on the virus, adding that he has not spoken with Trump in more than a month.

He cautioned the public that the country was heading for a difficult winter if COVID-19 is not contained.

He added that the U.S. will have to face "a whole lot of hurt" in the future due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases.

The medical expert said the United States will have to make an abrupt change when it comes to public health precautions.

Fauci the compared the two presidential hopefuls regarding their perspective on the pandemic. Fauci said that Biden seems to be taking it seriously from a public health view.

Meanwhile, Trump seems to be looking at it from a different perspective.

White House spokesman Judd Deere responded on Fauci's comment, saying that Trump always puts people's well-being first.

Deere added that Fauci has the responsibility to push for a change in strategy, but he choses to criticize the president in the media.

The United States has recorded 9.33 million COVID-19 cases, with 231,000 deaths.