President Trump responded Sunday night to chants from the crowd at his Florida, campaign rally to fire NIAID director Anthony Fauci by saying, "Don’t tell anybody but let me wait until a little bit after the election."

Why it matters: Trump's remarks at the Opa-locka rally come less than 48 hours before polls close and a day after the White House issued a scathing response to Fauci's bleak assessment of the U.S. handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

TRUMP: You turn on the news, ‘Covid, covid, covid, covid.’

CROWD: Fire Fauci! Fire Fauci!

TRUMP: Don’t tell anybody, but let me wait til a little bit after the election. pic.twitter.com/qOT0OZnJUE

— Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) November 2, 2020

Flashback: What Dr. Fauci has coming