Mitt Romney slams the United States' coronavirus testing record as 'nothing to celebrate whatsoever'

• Sen. Mitt Romney, a Utah Republican, pointedly criticized the Trump administration's response to the coronavirus during a Tuesday Senate hearing.
• Romney accused Brett Giroir, who is leading coronavirus testing at the Department of Health and Human Services, of misleadingly comparing the US's testing record to South Korea's.
• "I find our testing record nothing to celebrate whatsoever," he said.
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Sen. Mitt Romney, a Utah Republican, forcefully criticized the Trump administration's response to the coronavirus during a Tuesday Senate hearing and accused a Health and Human Services official of misleading the public about the US's record with testing for the virus.

Romney pointed to Admiral Brett Girior's statement — which reflects those made by President Donald Trump — that the US has tested double the number of people that South Korea has. But the assertion that the US's testing abilities are more robust than South Korea's makes no sense, given that the Asian nation has a far smaller population, ramped up testing far earlier than the US did, and has had a much more controlled outbreak.

"I understand the politicians are going to frame data in a way that's most positive politically. Of course, I don't expect that from admirals," Romney told Giroir. "But yesterday, you celebrated that we had done more tests and more tests per capita even in South Korea."

Romney went on to point out that American population is six times larger than South Korea's, but the US has had about 300 times the number of coronavirus deaths as the Asian country.

"I find our testing record nothing to celebrate whatsoever," he said. "The fact is, their testing is going down, down, down, down now ... ours our going up, up, up as they have to."

Romney also asked Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious disease expert, to contradict statements made by the president suggesting that President Barack Obama was responsible for the US not yet having a vaccine for the novel virus. Fauci confirmed that it was not Obama or Trump's fault and that the vaccine development is proceeding swiftly.

He asked Fauci how likely it is that the US and the world are able to develop a vaccine within "a year or two." Fauci responded that it's "much more likely than not" that a vaccine will be developed within the next two years.

—Tim Hogan (@timjhogan) May 12, 2020

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