OPA-LOCKA, Fla.

President Donald Trump is suggesting that he will fire Dr. Anthony Fauci after today’s election, as his rift with the nation’s top infectious disease expert widens while the nation sees its most alarming outbreak of the coronavirus since the spring.

Speaking at a campaign rally in Opa-locka, Fla., Trump expressed frustration that the surging cases of the virus that has killed more than 231,000 people in the U.S. this year remains prominent in the news. That sparked his supporters to begin chanting “Fire Fauci.”

“Don’t tell anybody but let me wait until a little bit after the election,” Trump replied to thousands of supporters early Monday, adding that he appreciated their “advice.”

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden tweeted later Monday in response: “We need a president who actually listens to experts like Dr. Fauci.”

It’s the most direct Trump has been in suggesting he was serious about trying to remove Fauci from his position. He has previously expressed that he was concerned about the political blowback of removing the popular and respected doctor before the election.

Trump cannot directly fire Fauci, who is not a presidential appointee. Theoretically, Trump could pressure Fauci’s boss, Dr. Francis Collins, or Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar to do so. Even discounting Fauci’s scientific legacy, taking that step would be politically extraordinary considering a Republican president, George W. Bush, awarded Fauci the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Fauci also has considerable bipartisan support in Congress.

Meanwhile, a top White House coronavirus adviser sounded alarms Monday about a new and deadly phase in the health crisis, pleading with top administration officials for “much more aggressive action” even as Trump continues to assure rallygoers that the nation is “rounding the turn” on the pandemic.

“We are entering the most concerning and most deadly phase of this pandemic ... leading to increasing mortality,” said the Monday report from Deborah Birx, coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force. “This is not about lockdowns. It hasn’t been about lockdowns since March or April. It’s about an aggressive balanced approach that is not being implemented.”

Birx’s internal report, shared with top White House and agency officials, contradicts Trump on numerous points: While the president holds large campaign events with hundreds of attendees, most without masks, she explicitly warns against them. While the president blames rising cases on more testing, she says testing is “flat or declining” in many areas where cases are rising. And while Trump says the country is “rounding the turn,” Birx notes that the country is entering its most dangerous period yet and will see more than 100,000 new cases a day this week.