WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney became the latest GOP presidential candidate Thursday to criticize former Sen. John Edwards' recent renunciation of the term "War on Terror," saying he was "shocked" when he heard the comments.

"Remember that old Edmund Burke quote? It's a famous quote, 'The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,'" Romney said during a town hall in Jacksonville, Florida. "And that, I am afraid, is the boiled-down version of what John Edwards said, is that good men should do nothing."

In a speech before the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City Wednesday, Edwards said, "The war on terror is a slogan designed only for politics, not a strategy to make America safe. It's a bumper sticker, not a plan."

On Wednesday night, GOP presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani said of Edwards' comments, "It kind of makes the point that I've been making over and over again -- that the Democrats, or at least some of them, are in denial."

President Bush also commented on Edwards' remarks Thursday, saying "this notion that this isn't a war on terror is, in my view, naive."

In a statement released shortly after Bush's remark, Edwards responded, "The Bush terror doctrine says we're going to pursue our ideological agenda without regard to whether it works and without regard to the will of the American people -- and if you oppose us, if you challenge us, if you disagree with us, you're soft on terror, you're not a patriot."

"It's a political sledgehammer, plain and simple. And the most insidious part about it is that it does not work," he added.