“Most Republican candidates want nothing to do with Donald Trump in this general election. They want this to be about Joe Biden and the Democrats, but to the extent that Trump is entering this conversation, he’s giving the Democrats a major gift right now,” Dent told CNN.
The Wilkes-Barre, Pa., rally was billed as support for Republican Senate candidate Mehmet Oz and gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano — but it was also Trump’s first since the FBI executed a search warrant at his Mar-a-Lago residence and recovered classified documents kept after the end of his presidential term.
“I’m not so sure former President Trump did any good with this speech tonight. Once he shows up in Pennsylvania, he makes the election much more about himself,” Dent said.
Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon and television personality, is trailing Democratic Rear Adm. John Fetterman in the state Senate race, according to a recent poll.
“Mehmed Oz doesn’t think he wants to be around Donald Trump in this fall election. It does him no good. He’s got to win over swing voters and independents and some Democrats, and it’s hard to do that when Trump is really just playing and fooling around with the base,” Dent said.
Trump during the rally criticized the FBI for the Mar-a-Lago investigation, calling it “one of the most shocking abuses of power by any administration in American history.”
In the wake of criticism from Trump and his supporters, FBI agents have faced an uptick in attacks on law enforcement.
Dent on Saturday pushed back the outrage.
“If any member of Congress absconded with classified material, I can assure you that a G-man, someone from the FBI, would have been showing up at their homes and demanding that they return that information,” Dent said.
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Dent represented Pennsylvania in Congress from 2005 until his retirement in 2018. He is now a political commentator for CNN.
Dent and a group of former Pennsylvania Republican officials have endorsed Democratic state Attorney General Josh Shapiro over their party’s gubernatorial candidate, Mastriano. Dent called Mastriano “an extremist who is a threat to the rule of law and the constitutional order.”
