Lorain Times

GOP gubernatorial candidate Jim Renacci is calling out Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine over self-praise for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In response to a reporter’s questioning on his handling of the COVID-19 crisis DeWine expressed positivity. “I’m proud of what we’ve done,” he said on Fox 8 News Cleveland.

Renacci said DeWine’s comments are out of touch.

“WATCH: Mike DeWine says he is 'proud' of how he handled COVID in Ohio. Proud of the hundreds of thousands of lost jobs. Proud of the closed schools and mask mandates that abuse our kids. Proud of his refusal to protect Ohioans' medical freedoms,” Team Renacci said in a tweet.

Renacci elaborated in a press release.

“Mike DeWine has absolutely nothing to be 'proud' of about his disastrous handling of COVID,” Renacci said in the statement. “Instead of defending his awful record to Ohioans, he should give them a massive apology. DeWine protected abortion clinics and big box stores while hundreds of thousands of small businesses were forced to close under his aggressive and unnecessary lockdowns that decimated our state.”

Thanks to a June 2021 law, the legislature may repeal DeWine's public health orders via a simple majority, Cleveland.com reported.

“Even today, he is abusing Ohio's children by demanding schools mandate masks, refusing to protect Ohioans' medical freedoms, and fearmongering up and down our state while our economy is still climbing out of the grave DeWine dug for it," Renacci said. "Dr. Fauci may be proud of Mike DeWine, but Ohio is disgusted. If Mike DeWine is proud of how he handled the lockdowns, then he's not just liberal, but tone-deaf as well.”

In the fall of 2021, articles of impeachment were filed against DeWine for conditional infractions, The Washington Post reported. He was indirectly implicated in the FirstEnergy bribery scandal, in which the energy company paid $61 million in illegal bribes to lawmakers in order to save two nuclear reactors.

Meanwhile, the state's small businesses have been hit by a wave of closure orders that resulted in the permanent closure of 3,100 restaurants across the state.

Renacci is a former U.S. representative for Ohio's 16th District who is running in the May 3 primary against DeWine. He is an accountant and businessman who once owned the Arena Football League's Columbus Destroyers.

Renacci was elected to Congress as a member of the Tea Party movement in 2010, and later endorsed Donald Trump over then-Ohio Governor John Kasich in the 2016 Republican presidential primaries.