Former GOP rep: Trump’s ‘bizarre’ New Mexico post is ‘hurting his own team’

Former Republican Rep. Charlie Dent (Pa.) on Monday called President Trump’s social media posts referring to New Mexico as “New America” “bizarre” and accused him of “hurting his own team” ahead of the midterms.

MS NOW’s Peter Alexander asked Dent on “State of Play” about the president’s latest posts , including an AI-generated map with the “New America” label on the Land of Enchantment. The former lawmaker branded the posts as a “total distraction” from “real issues.”

“I mean, all these sorts of things that are completely irrelevant to Americans’ lives and, frankly, they think it’s bizarre, just renaming states and lakes and the Gulf,” the Pennsylvania Republican continued, referring to the Gulf of Mexico. “So again, a distraction, but these are not helping the president or his party.”

He added, “It’s hurting his own team. It’s almost like there’s an intentional act to undermine your own party’s prospects in the midterms.”

Dent said Americans likely see the president’s actions and think, “What is he doing?”

He urged Trump to train his focus on the cost of living and ending the Iran war but noted that the president “continues to obsess over the ballroom and the Kennedy Center and the Reflecting Pool.”

Trump signed an executive order late last month to rename Lake Ontario “Lake America” amid his trade war with Canada, with Canada’s retaliatory tariffs on $27.6 billion in American products starting to take effect . Days later, a viral hoax claimed he signed an executive order on Sept. 1 changing New Mexico’s name to “New America.”

Fact-checkers like Snopes disproved the claim, noting that it came from a satirical social media account, but Trump appeared to be aware of the post and reshared it –– a map of New Mexico with “Mexico” crossed out and replaced with “America” –– on his Truth Social and the White House’s official social media accounts.

The president wrote later Sunday evening , “Many people suggested changing the name of New Mexico, one of the great vote cheating states of all time, to NEW AMERICA. So much more prestigious and beautiful for the people of that potentially incredible State. Wow, I Love It!!!”

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) said the issue was not “up for debate” and accused Trump of distracting Americans from the Iran war and high gas prices.

“While the White House wastes time coloring on maps, Nuevo México is busy doing the work,” she wrote on the social platform X.

These incidents are not without precedent, as the president signed an order last year to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.” It drew the ire of Mexican lawmakers and prompted their government to sue Google after the company displayed the Gulf as “Gulf of America” on its map for U.S. users.

The tech giant later did the same with “Lake America,” leaving the name Lake Ontario intact for non-U.S. users.