Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., lamented Monday how the unity people feel after tragedy strikes only "lasts for about 30 minutes" in the present, giving way to divisiveness.

In a Fox News interview, Gowdy commented on the current state of affairs in America after 11 people were killed by a gunman who stormed into a Pittsburgh synagogue over the weekend.

Referring to the political finger-pointing that has ensued — focused largely on whether pointed rhetoric is partly to blame for the violence — Gowdy said the U.S. has found itself in a "malaise."

"Tragedy used be unifying, but now it lasts for about 30 minutes," Gowdy said.

[Opinion: Obama, the Great Divider when in office, lacks the credibility to lecture America]

Following the tragedy and a mail-bomb scare last week, critics of President Trump say his comments have emboldened hate and violence. The president has pushed back, blaming the "fake news" media for the "anger" that has become deadly.

While Gowdy acknowledged that he is unable to change Trump's mind on anything, he did provide some recommendations for how Trump can project a sense of "unity" when he makes his upcoming planned visit to Pittsburgh.

"If President Trump will focus on the victims and their lives, I think that's what my fellow Americans would love," Gowdy said. "Not focus on the shooter and not focus on the politics of it. Focus on the lives that were lost and how that impacts dozens and hundreds of people that were involved in their lives. I think that would be unifying."