UNITED STATES President Donald Trump has hinted that he will sack government infectious-disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci after Tuesday’s election amid a widening rift over the country’s coronavirus crisis.

At a Florida campaign rally on Monday, Mr Trump expressed frustration that the pandemic, which has killed more than 230,000 citizens, continues to dominate the news.

“Don’t tell anybody, but let me wait until a little bit after the election,” he said in response to chants of “fire Fauci.”

Growing discord between the pair has seen Dr Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases and the most visible of the experts on the president’s coronavirus taskforce, claim that he hasn’t met Mr Trump for more than a month and accuse the president of ignoring scientific advice on Covid-19.

In a Washington Post interview at the weekend, Dr Fauci said that the US “could not possible be positioned more poorly” to halt a rise in cases during the colder months, adding that Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden “is taking it seriously from a public-health perspective.”

White House spokesman Judd Deere accused Dr Fauci of playing politics ahead of the election and “making his political leanings known.”

Mr Biden remains ahead in the polls for both the popular vote and the electoral college, including the so-called swing states. But analysts point to the 2016 presidential election, when Hillary Clinton appeared to be leading, only for Mr Trump to win.

Both candidates rallied supporters today in a final push. The highest turnout in more than a century is expected, despite coronavirus, with more than 90 million people having already cast their vote.

Mr Trump has repeatedly — and apparently groundlessly — claimed that the postal voting system is open to widespread fraud, in what is seen by many as a warning sign that he may not concede defeat.