A Republican lawmaker and Air Force veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan criticized on Thursday President Donald Trump's retweets of anti-Muslim videos, saying it doesn't help the fight against terrorism.
"I think we have ISIS on its heels. We're fighting, frankly, these forces of evil all over the world," Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Illinois, told CNN's "New Day." "But I do think it matters if you retweet a video that's not real or that is put out by an extremist, I guess, in the UK."
Trump retweeted three videos Wednesday morning, showing people purported to be Muslims carrying out assaults and, in one video, smashing a statue of the Virgin Mary.
Kinzinger said there are mornings when he wakes up saying he wished the President hadn't tweeted, adding that sharing the videos was "not helpful at all."
But more strategically, Kinzinger noted, animosity between Muslims and Americans may be what extends the war on terror.
"We have to fight what I call the next generational war on terror. It's the 7- and 8-year-olds," Kinzinger added. "Doesn't mean we fight them. It means we have to understand these are the ones that are either going to be the ones who are our enemies or they're going to be the ones who reject terrorism within their own community."