Trump HHS official who claimed 'deep state scientists want Americans to get sick to get Biden elected' escapes being fired - and is put on 60-day leave for sake of his 'health'

Michael Caputo, the Trump loyalist installed at the Health and Human Service Department who told followers to 'buy ammunition,' took a 60-day leave of absence from his role Wednesday as he escaped being fired for attacking its scientists.

He stepped aside as the video of a bleak rant posted to his followers at the weekend emerged, with him claiming that 'deep state' scientists want Americans to get the deadly coronavirus. 

The Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement that Caputo was taking the time 'to focus on his health and the well-being of his family.' 

Caputo had claimed he feared for his and his family's safety in the Facebook live video, and suggested that his own mental health was suffering.

Caputo has no medical or scientific qualifications but had worked on Trumps campaign, having previously been a media adviser to Vladimir Putin and an associate of Roger Stone.

Caputo had apologized in an emergency staff meeting Tuesday after the New York Times reported on his Facebook post, where Caputo lashed out at opponents, lamented the state of his own mental health, and told people: 'If you carry guns, buy ammunition, ladies and gentlemen, because it's going to be hard to get.'

Caputo, who delivered the video message from his home in upstate New York, tells his 5,000 followers: 'I'm under siege. It's been going on for a couple of weeks. And I don't care. BecauseI have the president's support. I know that because he's told me so.'

Communications official for the Department of Health and Human Services, Michael Caputo, lashes out at government scientists in a Facebook rant that has been revealed. Caputo took down the video and apologized to staff

Michael Caputo, the top communications official at the Health and Human Services Department, has apologized for his bizarre Facebook live session. He says government scientists working to contain the coronavirus 'want America sick through November'

In one of his most slashing attacks, he says: 'The partisan Democrats, the conjugal media and the scientists, the deep state scientists, want America sick through November. They cannot afford for us to have any good news through November, because they're already losing,' he said. 

'There are scientists working for this government who do not want America to get better. Did you hear me? There are scientists who work for this government who do not want America to get well. Not until after Joe Biden is president. It's a fact.'

'I know it because I've heard it,' Caputo claims. 'These people cannot allow America to get better ... It must be all bad news from now until the election.'

'Frankly ladies and gentlemen, that's sedition,' Caputo says in the rant. 'They are sacrificing lives in order to defeat Donald Trump. Ladies and gentlemen, that's sedition. It's also - call it what you will. But when they let somebody get sick and die, there is one word for that.'

Caputo is a protege of Donald Trump advisor Roger Stone

Caputo is close with President Trump, who is expected to be involved in any decision about his future employment

As for his own status, which has been thrown into doubt by recent events, Caputo says: 'I'm not going anywhere. They're going to have to kill me. And unfortunately I think that's where this is going,' he says.  

Caputpo says his own 'mental health has definitely failed.' 

Yahoo News published clips from the Facebook live video. Caputo has since taken down much of his social media presence. 

Although he has no scientific background, he touts his role in the development of a vaccine. He was appointed as an assistant secretary for communications, and clashed with government scientists. Politico reported that he ordered government scientists to modify weekly reports on the state of the coronavirus outbreak and on morbidity throughout the nation.     

'As Assistant Secretary of Health I'll be one of the first ones to get a vaccine. And I know it's safe because i'm involved in its development. He does not hold a Senate-confirmed position, but he has close ties to the White House as a former Trump campaing aide and a protege of Trump advisor Roger Stone.

He sighs deeply as he reveals his own state of health. 'This weighs really heavily on me ... We count the dead, and we discuss them first thing in the morning ... Honest to God ladies and gentlemen, I don't want to talk about death anymore,' he says.

He also vows: 'I'm not going anywhere. They're not going to run me out.'

Then he discloses: 'My health is failing. My mental health is definitely failing. I don't like being alone emotionally. The shadows on the ceiling in my apartment, there, alone, those shadows are so long.'

Caputo told staffers his behavior online was a combination of physical health issues and the stress of fielding death threats against his family. 

Several Democrats called for his resignation in the wake of the Facebook Live session. 

'And when Donald Trump refuses to stand down at the inauguration, the shooting will begin,' Caputo said in it. 'The drills that you've seen are nothing,' he said in comments that he posted Sunday. 

Said Caputo: 'If you carry guns, buy ammunition, ladies and gentlemen, because it's going to be hard to get.' 

He also blasted government scientists 'deep in the bowels of the CDC have given up science and become political animals' who he said 'haven't gotten out of their sweatpants except for meetings at coffee shops.' 

Caputo is an associate of longtime informal Trump advisor Roger Stone – who provided his own violent imagery about what could be in store during an experience on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones' radio show.

Stone said Trump should consider imposing 'marshal law' or invoke the Insurrection Act should results show he lost the election.