SALT LAKE CITY — After making a sarcastic remark about Sen. Mitt Romney being quarantined earlier this week, President Donald Trump took another swing at the Utah Republican on Wednesday.
Upon learning that Romney tested negative for COVID-19, Trump tweeted, “This is really great news! I am so happy I can barely speak. He may have been a terrible presidential candidate and an even worse U.S. Senator, but he is a RINO, and I like him a lot!”
Romney didn’t address the tweet directly when asked about it Wednesday during a video news conference with reporters.
“I find Twitter to be a good source of humor,” he said.
In February, Romney became the first senator in history to vote to remove a president of his own party from office in an impeachment trial.
When a reporter informed Trump at a White House press briefing Sunday that Romney and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, were among a four senators in isolation, the president replied, “Romney is in isolation? Gee, that’s too bad.”
“Is that sarcasm there, sir?” the reporter asked.
“No,” Trump said, shaking his head. “None whatsoever.”
The president didn’t say anything about Lee, one of his staunchest supporters.
Doctors directed Romney and Lee to self-isolate after attending a lunch meeting last Friday with Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who tested positive for COVID-19. The two Utah senators flew back to Utah late Sunday and are holed up in their homes for two weeks.
Romney received the coronavirus test on Monday. He said he qualified for the test because he sat near Paul and then spoke to him in person the next day and because of his age. The negative result came back Tuesday afternoon.
Lee said doctors told him he didn’t need the test. Both senators said they haven’t had any coronavirus symptoms.
Friction between Romney and Trump goes back several years. In 2016, Romney called then candidate Trump a fraud and phony in a speech at the University of Utah. The day before he took office as senator, Romney expressed disappointment in the president’s leadership and said he had not risen to the mantle of the office.
At the start of the coronavirus outbreak, Romney questioned whether the Trump administration was prepared to handle it.