Veteran journalist Carl Bernstein claimed on Monday night that President Donald Trump was using his supporters as “sacrificial lambs” in order to get re-elected, calling his recent indoor campaign rallies “homicidal” assemblies while accusing Trump of the “most grievous felony” in presidential history.

As the president hosted another rally with little social distancing and few masks, Bernstein told CNN anchor Anderson Cooper that we’re “witnessing a homicidal president convening, purposely, a homicidal assembly to help him get re-elected as president of the United States.” The famed Watergate reporter went on to say that Trump’s “sacrificed the lives of thousands of Americans because he is unwilling to deal honestly” with the coronavirus pandemic.

Bernstein, who recently called one-time partner Bob Woodward’s bombshell tapes of Trump admitting he intentionally downplayed the threat of COVID-19 a “smoking gun,” concluded that the president had “abdicated responsibility” and “called his supporters to be sacrificial lambs.”