Donald Trump has come out swinging against one of the United States' top public health experts.
Dr Anthony Fauci has been the man in charge of providing essential information to the US during the coronavirus pandemic and has served on the government's Covid-19 taskforce.
Despite being one of the most respected scientists in the United States, the US President has now labelled him a 'disaster'.
During a call with his campaign staff in Las Vegas, Trump said: "Fauci is a disaster. If I listened to him, we'd have 500,000 deaths.
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"He's a nice guy; I like him. But he's called a lot of bad calls. He said 'don't wear a mask', and he said 'don't ban China'.
"They were bad calls; he admits that. And I don't hold that against him. If I did, I wouldn't have him. No, I think he's a nice guy."
While the call was specifically with campaign workers, journalists were allowed to listen to the conversation and Trump even acknowledged it.
The President said Americans were getting sick of Dr Fauci and his advice on how to avoid more people from being infected with coronavirus.
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"People are tired of Covid. I have these huge rallies," Trump said. "People are saying whatever. Just leave us alone. They're tired of it. People are tired of hearing Fauci and all these idiots."
Dr Fauci has been director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984 and has served under both Republican and Democratic Presidents in the past.
He recently said he was not surprised in the slightest that Trump caught Covid-19.
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"I was worried that he was going to get sick when I saw him in a completely precarious situation of crowded... no separation between people, and almost nobody wearing a mask," he said during an interview with CBS' 60 Minutes.
He also revealed that he has been restricted in what programmes he's allowed to be interviewed by, adding: "I certainly have not been allowed to go on many, many, many shows that have asked for me."
Regardless of Trump's view of Fauci, it appears he's highly respected by his industry.
The infectious disease expert recently received an award from the National Academy of Medicine's First-Ever Presidential Citation for Exemplary Leadership.
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The US recorded more than 47,000 new cases of coronavirus on 18 October and notched 70,400 new infections two days earlier. There are few signs the pandemic is waning in the country.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: News, Coronavirus, US News