DES MOINES, Iowa — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis chided Democrats and the media on the third anniversary of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol by contending they have used the attack as a “bloody shirt” to “impugn” Americans.

DeSantis has been repeatedly asked — by the media as well as voters at his campaign stops in the state this week — about Jan. 6. He has called the attack a “riot” but his comments Saturday on Fox News may mark the first time he has leaned into a term associated with the political battles held in the immediate shadow of the Civil War.

“It’s one thing to say ‘ok you know these things shouldn’t have happened’ but it’s another thing to wave the bloody shirt and try to impugn tens of millions of Americans as a result of that,” said DeSantis, who then smacked President Joe Biden for his focus on Jan. 6.

© Politico