Washington, Nov 3 Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has defended Anthony Fauci after US President Donald Trump suggested he might fire America's top infectious disease expert after Election Day.
"Last night, Trump said he was going to fire Fauci. Isn't that wonderful?" Xinhua news agency quoted Biden as saying during a drive-in rally in Cleveland, Ohio, on Monday.
"I've got a better idea. Elect me, and I'm going to hire Dr. Fauci and we're going to fire Donald Trump," said Biden.
Biden's remarks came after Trump suggested at a rally in Florida late Sunday that he might try to dismiss Fauci from his post at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases following the election.
"Don't tell anybody, but let me wait until a little bit after the election," Trump said when the crowd broke out into chants of "fire Fauci".
"I appreciate the advice... He's a nice man though. He's been wrong on a lot," Trump said.
Former President Barack Obama also slammed Trump's suggestion on Monday while addressing a rally in Atlanta.
"One of the few people in this administration who's been taking this seriously all along and what'd he say? His second-term plan is to fire that guy," Obama said.
"They've already said they're not going to contain the pandemic. Now they want to fire the one person who can actually help them contain the pandemic," he said.
The Trump administration's handling of the Covid-19 pandemic remains a major issue of this year's election.
The country's overall caseload has reached 9,284,261, while the death toll stood at 231,507 , both tallies the highest in the world, according to the Johns Hopkins University.
( With inputs from IANS )
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