Democrats equate 9/11 hijackers with Capitol rioters; say Republicans 'threaten' democracy

As America marked the 21st anniversary of the deadliest 9/11 terror attacks on Sunday, US President Joe Biden vowed to continue working to root out terrorist plots. However, some high-ranking Democratic officials expressed grave concern over the domestic insurgency after the September 11 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 Americans in 2001. In an interview with CBS News on Sunday, Senate Intelligence Chairman Mark Warner compared the Capitol riots with the 9/11 attacks and said "Trump supporters are threats to democracy". 

"The stunning thing to me is here we are 20 years later, and the attack on the symbol of our democracy was not coming from terrorists, but it came from literally insurgents attacking the Capitol on January 6th," Warner told the American broadcast.

"I think the threat of terror has diminished. I worry about some of the activity in this country where the election deniers, the insurgency that took place on January 6th, that is something I hope we could see that same kind of unity of spirit," he added. 

Harris calls Republicans a threat to democracy during the 9/11 anniversary

The same was echoed by US Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday. Calling Republicans-- "a threat to democracy"-- Harris said such threats from the insider weaken the country. "While we don't compare domestic versus foreign terrorism, we know they both exist and we must defend against it," she stressed. "The fact is having served under the Senate Intelligence Committee and now as vice-president, I can tell you the nature of domestic threats versus a foreign threat-- they're very different. Note, both are harmful and extremely dangerous, but they are different," she added.

Earlier during a support rally, Biden urged Republicans to reject their leader and called them associated with "extreme MAGA ideology." Also, a major row erupted after a speaker featured in former US President Donald Trump's rally started narrating the "plight" of the Capitol riot accused. In January this year, during a similar rally in Texas, Trump assured the rioters to pardon if his government comes into power in 2024. Also, Trump assured the rioters to be "treated fairly" as they were already tortured unfairly by the incumbent Biden administration.

Capitol attack

The United States had witnessed "a black day for democracy" as a group of supporters of former President Trump attacked the US Capitol following the victory of Democratic candidate, Joe Biden. The protestors entered the US Capitol in a bid to protest the lawmakers from certifying the 2020 election results from several states, which Trump said were fraudulent. One protester was shot dead during the incident and, the law enforcement authorities charged over 700 people for engaging in the riots.

Image: AP