President Barack Obama was the "campaigner-in-chief" Tuesday with his speech condemning Donald Trump's anti-Muslim remarks in light of the Orlando terrorism attacks because "this is clearly designed to divide us," former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers said.
"I wish the president would have come out and been commander-in-chief, not campaigner-in-chief today," Rogers, a Michigan Republican who chaired the panel from 2011 to last year, told Jake Tapper on
CNN. "He walks into the same territory that Donald Trump does when he makes these broad, sweeping claims about a complete ban on Muslims."
In his
White House speech, Obama bashed Trump's renewed call for a ban on Muslims entering the United States after the assaults that killed 49 people and injured at least 53 others at a gay nightclub on Sunday.
The president also called for tighter gun controls and said that his using the term "radical Islam" would accomplish nothing in the fight against terrorism.
"This was the moment that could be a real moment for the president," said Rogers, now a CNN commentator. "We have the most tragic terrorist attack on the country since 9/11 — and we had a series of them: Chattanooga, San Bernardino, Orlando, Fort Hood.
"This was a chance for the president to try to bring us together," he said. "I think he's so focused on the presidential campaign he lets himself go.
"I don't think it was the right tactic for the president."