In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter's "Awards Chatter" podcast published Friday, Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee and a former secretary of state, said a response that focused more on battling the health impacts of the pandemic rather than reopening businesses could have ultimately blunted some of the economic fallout from the coronavirus.
"We sure could have done a better job saving lives, modeling better, more responsible behavior," she said. "I don't think we necessarily should have had as deep an economic assault on livelihoods and jobs as we have. So I know I would have done a better job."
Clinton added that it was "frustrating to be on the sidelines in a pandemic" and that she could do more to address the virus’s spread, The Hill reported.
The comments mark just the latest in a cavalcade of criticism directed toward Trump over his handling of the pandemic, with detractors saying he was too eager to reopen the economy and that new spike in cases across the South and Southwest could have been prevented.
There have been about 2.8 million confirmed coronavirus cases in the US, and the number of new cases reported daily has risen in recent weeks. Over 129,000 people in the country have died.