Former Pennsylvania Republican congressman Charlie Dent slammed President Donald Trump on Friday for reposting his “go home in peace” message to those who participated in the Jan.6, 2021 Capitol riots on a day Americans were observing the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack.
“9/11 was about a terrorist attack designed to disrupt our way of life. January 6 was a mob trying to prevent the peaceful transfer of power,” Dent said on CNN Friday night. “The two really aren’t related, as far as I’m concerned. And frankly, from a political standpoint, I don’t know why you would try to mix your messages.”
The president skipped out on visiting Ground Zero on Friday, but made an appearance at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., where he defended his Iran war during a speech.
Dent told host Kaitlan Collins and political commentator Van Jones that Sept. 11 is a very personal day to him and not “the right time to make political statements.”
“I would have stayed away from it and just focused on these victims because, you know, for all of us, it hit us so hard,” he said.
However, the president instead flooded his Truth Social platform with several bizarre posts, including one in which he blasted Democrats for criticizing his promise to give $5,000 to every American adult if Republicans win the midterms.
One strange post in particular was a video message to rioters at the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection in the U.S. Capitol, pleading with them to “go home in peace.”
Jones questioned why the president made that post, noting that the rioters “are people who are not patriotic” and “who are not heroes.”
“I just think sometimes the president is just not in sync with where the American people are. I don’t think there’s a single person today who woke up and said, ‘You know what I want to talk about today? January 6.’ That’s like, who does that?” Jones said.
Dent added to Jones’ point, stating that 9/11 is supposed to be “a solemn day of remembrance.”
“It’s about the victims. It’s about the families. We should be thinking of them, and not getting onto other issues, and especially one like that,” Dent said.
“I just don’t understand why he would throw that into the mix here; it certainly didn’t add to what was discussed earlier in the day,” he continued.