Instead of proposing a change in the coronavirus strategy, Fauci chose to "play politics" by expressing his political sympathies, apparently referring to his praise of Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, the White House slammed top US public health official Dr. Anthony Fauci.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Fauci's recent comments on the administration were called "unacceptable and breaking with all standards" by White House spokesman Judd Deere.

Fauci expressed concerns about the coronavirus situation in the United States in an interview published on Friday, issuing a gloomy forecast for the winter season. "We're in for a lot of hurts," he said, "You couldn't possibly be more poorly positioned."

Fauci also said that, compared to that of the Trump administration, Biden's campaign "takes it seriously from a public health perspective" and criticized pandemic adviser Scott Atlas, saying he has "real problems with that guy."

"He's a smart guy who's talking about things that I believe he doesn't have any real insight or knowledge or experience in", Fauci said. "He keeps talking about things that when you dissect it out and parse it out, it doesn't make any sense."

 Fauci added that since the latter was treated for COVID-19 at the Walter Reed Medical Center, he has not had any discussions with the US president.