Fox News host battles Mercedes Schlapp over record COVID-19 surge: 'It's not because we're over-testing'

Trump campaign adviser Mercedes Schlapp on Monday suggested that the federal government's top infectious disease expert deserves to be fired after the election because he "played politics."

On Sunday, President Donald Trump hinted that he might dismiss Fauci after the doctor recently revealed that the United States "could not possibly be positioned more poorly" when it comes to spiking cases of COVID-19.

In an interview with Schlapp on Monday, Fox News host Harris Faulkner noted that the country had recently logged over 99,000 new cases of COVID-19 in one day.

"The highest number of single day infections of any other nation," Faulkner pointed out. "Dr. Fauci, though, very respected figure and I'm wondering, especially for some of the swing voters -- so they say -- who is the president trying to reach with the message that he will fire Fauci?"

"Well, I think that Fauci's comments this past weekend were disappointing," Schlapp replied. "I mean, he played politics. And when you're a career employee and you're there to serve the American people, you want to stay out of the politics. You're there to provide medical advice as opposed to take a political side."

Schlapp argued that Fauci was only one of Trump's medical advisers.

"Joe Biden, on the other hand, he's plagiarizing our plan," she insisted. "He doesn't have a plan of his own. He just wants to make sure that we all wear a mask -- and put a national mask mandate, lock down this country, which we know we cannot afford. We need to reopen our schools, reopen our economy safely and responsibly and get Americans back to work."

Faulkner, however, did not seem convinced.

"Yeah, you know, the president is still the president right now," the Fox News host observed. "And as we lead the world in a place where we never thought we'd be in terms of cases. Even [Coronavirus Task Force member Admiral Brett Giroir] -- handpicked by the president of the United States -- says it's not because we're over-testing."

Watch the video below from Fox News.