The White House has accused leading infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci of playing politics days before the election in an interview about the coronavirus pandemic.
Dr Fauci told the Washington Post the US was in for a “whole lot of hurt”.
He also offered an assessment of how both President Donald Trump and his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, are approaching the pandemic.
The US has recorded more deaths and cases than any other country.
According to data collated by Johns Hopkins University, deaths in the US have now passed 230,000, while more than nine million cases have been registered.