“I would argue the president has unleashed, partially, again not in anyway totally, but partially to blame for the demons that have been unleashed,” Mr. Sanford, South Carolina Republican, said on MSNBC.

Mr. Sanford said he has seen a change in his town hall meetings since the 2016 election became so heated, describing one in a senior center where older people were cursing at each other.

“I was at a town hall meeting — it was at a senior center, at a retirement center — and what took place in terms of what people were saying to each other was like out of a movie, and so we’ve got to find a way to dial this back,” he said.