Help with varible assignment

Hello, with my code below I keep getting an error:
Uncaught Error: Syntax error, unrecognized expression: 8/23/2016 01:00:00

on this line when I try to populate: frdi
 if (frdiD != ''){
                   frdi = $(this.concatenateDateTime(frdiD, frdiT));
                }

I'm learning javascript and don't understand what this error means. What am I doing wrong?

 validateDates: function () {
                $('.firstSecondValMsg').html('');
                $('.secondClientValMsg').html('');

                var frdiD = $("#FirstReviewDeadlineInterim").val();
                var frdiT = $("#FirstReviewDeadlineInterimTime").val();
                var frdi = '';
                if (frdiD != ''){
                   frdi = $(this.concatenateDateTime(frdiD, frdiT));
                }

                var srdiD = $("#SecondReviewDeadlineInterim").val();
                var srdiT = $("#SecondReviewDeadlineInterimTime").val();
                var srdi = '';
                if (srdiD != '') {
                    srdi = $(this.concatenateDateTime(srdiD, srdiT));
                }
               
                var cdiD = $("#ClientDeadlineInterim").val();
                var cdiT = $("#ClientDeadlineInterimTime").val();
                var cdi = '';
                if (cdiD != '') {
                    cdi = $(this.concatenateDateTime(cdiD, cdiT));
                }

                if ($(this.compareTime(frdi, srdi)) && srdi != '') {
                    $('.firstSecondValMsg').html("First Review Deadline is greater than Second Review Deadline.").css({ 'color': 'red', 'font-weight': 'bold' });
                }

                if ($(this.compareTime(srdi, cdi)) && cdi != '') {
                    $('.secondClientValMsg').html("Second Review Deadline is greater than Client Deadline.").css({ 'color': 'red', 'font-weight': 'bold' });
                }
        },
        compareTime: function (time1, time2) {
        return new Date(time1) > new Date(time2); 
        },
        concatenateDateTime: function (date, time) {
            if(date != ''){
            var datetime = new Date(Date.parse(date + ' ' + time));

            var month = datetime.getMonth() + 1;
            var day = datetime.getDate();
            var year = datetime.getFullYear();

            var hour = datetime.getHours();
            if (hour < 10)
                hour = "0" + hour;

            var min = datetime.getMinutes();
            if (min < 10)
                min = "0" + min;

            var sec = datetime.getSeconds();
            if (sec < 10)
                sec = "0" + sec;

            var dateTimeString = month + '/' + day + '/' + year + ' ' + hour + ':' + min + ':' + sec;
          
            return dateTimeString;
            }
          },

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