Sen. Ron Johnson has come out swinging against Democrats who ripped him for comparing the boisterous presidential election to the 9/11 attacks — calling them a "disgusting" group of "political hacks."
On Saturday, Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican in a tough race for reelection against Democrat Russ Feingold, compared the upcoming election with the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
Remarking that passengers on the doomed United Airlines Flight 93 held a vote before storming the cabin to fight terrorists who had hijacked the aircraft, Johnson
told supporters at the Wisconsin Republican Party Convention in Green Bay:
"We've all heard Todd Beamer's iconic words 'Let's roll.’ How American is that? We have a job to do, let's roll up our shirt sleeves. Let's get it done. The reason I like telling that story now as we head into the election season is we all know what we need to do ...
"We'll be encouraging our fellow citizens to take a vote. Now, it may not be life and death, like the vote passengers on United Flight 93 took, but boy is it consequential."
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee hit the roof, criticizing Johnson's comparison "beyond the pale" and demanding an apology. But Johnson won’t be saying he’s sorry.
The Badger State lawmaker told the Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel:
"I was telling it as a story of inspiration in terms of what we need to do. Elections matter. For the Feingold campaign to politicize stories of inspiration, I do find that disgusting... just a bunch of political hacks.
"Which is what's just disgusting about this process, which is why quite honestly a lot of people don't enter this political realm."
Johnson added that he has told the 9/11 story "repeatedly, together with stories about the finest among us who've had their limbs blown off, on their second, third, fourth deployment. It's those types of Americans who inspire me."
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