My first reaction to hearing he said this was - this is his signal to the DS that he has agreed to a deal with them to become president.
It might sound crazy but I think he is their new Romney. He will get support in a primary to defeat Trump for the nomination.
He wants to be president and there is no way he gets there as long as Trump is around. His conservative support was already crumbling. I think the DS offered him a deal and his signal of acceptance was to call the Jan.6 prisoners terrorists.
My reaction is that he has evaluated the situation and concluded that the Deep State is going to win and he wants to be on the winning side.
This means there will be another lockdown before the November election, and tens of millions of untraceable mail-in ballots will flood the system.
Questioning them will be classified as a terrorist insurrection.