Former White House communications director Kate Bedingfield said Monday on CNN that President Donald Trump has taken the “bait” of Democrats. (Watch the video below.)

A video issued by six congressional Democrats who served in the armed forces or in intelligence urged service members to disobey “illegal orders,” prompting a meltdown from Trump and his allies.

Concerns are festering over Trump’s legally challenged deployment of forces to blue cities, in what he claims is a crime purge, and the administration’s deadly sea strikes on suspected drug runners.

On “The Arena with Kasie Hunt,” Bedingfield, an instrumental figure in President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory, said Trump was playing into the hands of his opponents.

“I think it’s important to remember, too, that Donald Trump’s abuse, inappropriate use of the military, is unpopular,” she said. “If people are asked whether they think his use of the National Guard was appropriate, even those who say that they like what he’s done to close down the border, will still say that it’s an inappropriate use of the military.”

“So in many ways it strikes me that Donald Trump has given them exactly the response that they were looking for,” she added. “His response is outrageous, it’s over the top, it’s continuing to drive the sense that he is, in fact, using the military inappropriately. And, it is preventing him from talking about the economy, which is what he needs to be doing. So in that way, I think he’s taken their bait.”