Mitt Romney Says Donald Trump’s Leadership During COVID Pandemic Has Been a 'Great Human Tragedy’

Sen. Mitt Romney didn’t mince words Thursday when he called out President Donald Trump’s leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This hasn't been the focus of his rhetoric, apparently, and I think it's a great human tragedy, without question," Romney, 73, told CNN. “The extraordinary loss of life is heartbreaking, and in some respects, unnecessary. Not in all respects, but we've relaxed our standards as individuals."

He continued, "From Washington, we have not had a constant, consistent plan and plea for people to wear masks, to social distance, to take all the measures that would reduce the spread of this disease. It's unfortunate that this became a political issue."

Trump, 74, has been criticized throughout 2020 for taking a relaxed approach to the pandemic, while positive cases and death tolls have continued to climb across the country.

As of Friday, at least 276,375 people have died in the U.S. and roughly 14.2 million people have tested positive for the virus, according to a New York Times tracker.

MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Donald Trump

The president’s rhetoric surrounding the pandemic has come at odds with his own federal health officials' public health recommendations.

Meanwhile, Trump has also been scrutinized for purposefully downplaying the threat of the virus in his public remarks this year — something the president admitted to doing during interviews with journalist Bob Woodward in the spring.

"I wanted to always play it down, I still like playing it down, because I don't want to create a panic," Trump told Woodward in March, as states across the country began to implement shutdowns to slow the virus’ spread.

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Trump routinely criticized economic shutdowns this year, largely targeting states with Democratic governors in his comments. He also publicly defied health officials’ recommendations to wear masks and socially distance in order to help slow the spread of the novel virus, even after he was hospitalized with COVID-19 for three days in early October.

"This is public health," Romney said Thursday. "And unfortunately, we have not made that message clear enough to the American people, and people are dying because of it."

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President-elect Joe Biden has made COVID-19 the focus of his transition team, inviting Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading medical expert on infectious diseases, this week to join his administration as its chief medical adviser.

Biden, 78, also said he plans to implement a 100-day nationwide mask mandate once he takes office on January 20, 2021.

“I’m hoping the news of the vaccine will serve as an incentive to every American, to take these simple steps to get control of the virus,” Biden said on Thanksgiving. “There’s real hope, tangible hope. So, hang on.”