Trump says number of US coronavirus cases is ‘badge of honor’ showing high testing

President Trump said Tuesday he sees the increasing rate of coronavirus cases in the U.S. as a “badge of honor” because it’s an indication of the country’s testing capacity. 

“When we have a lot of cases, I don’t look at that as a bad thing, I look at that as, in a certain respect, as being a good thing,” Trump told reporters. “Because it means our testing is much better.”

“I view it as a badge of honor, really, it’s a badge of honor.” 

The president added that more tests will inherently reveal more cases, leading to an increase in the total tally, and that the U.S. has a larger population than most countries, suggesting it’s unsurprising that the toll is higher.

“When you say we lead in cases, that’s because we have more testing than anybody else,” Trump said. “So if you’re testing 14 million people, you’re going to find many more cases. Many of these people aren’t very sick but they still go down as a case. And we’re also a bigger country than most.”

Trump has repeatedly touted the nation’s testing, noting that the U.S. has tested more people than any other country in the world.

However, he’s faced criticism that his administration was slow to roll out the tests, a move that experts say accelerated the spread of the virus.

Democrats seized on Trump’s remarks, saying 1.5 million total confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. is a result of a “failure of leadership.”

WATCH: Trump says he views our 1.5 million confirmed coronavirus cases as a “badge of honor.”

We view it as a complete failure of leadership. pic.twitter.com/r9OQTPPXbR

— DNC War Room (@DNCWarRoom) May 19, 2020

The U.S. has the highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the world at over 1.5 million. Over 91,000 people in the country have died.