GOP Sen. Defends Likening His Re-Election Bid To 9/11 (AUDIO)

U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said on Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2014, in Eau Claire, Wis., that the Ebola outbreak in Africa and the rise of the Islamic State are global issues that pose a major threat to U.S.security. (AP ... U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said on Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2014, in Eau Claire, Wis., that the Ebola outbreak in Africa and the rise of the Islamic State are global issues that pose a major threat to U.S.security. (AP Photo/Eau Claire Leader-Telegram, Dan Reiland) MORE LESS
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Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) insisted Monday that he wasn’t comparing the 9/11 terror attacks to his re-election bid in comments he made over the weekend, instead blaming his opponent for trying to “politicize” those comments.

Johnson praised the passengers of United Flight 93 while addressing the Wisconsin Republican Party on Saturday, saying that it was “American” of them to hold a vote before confronting hijackers and taking down the plane on 9/11, The Associated Press reported.

“November 2016 we’ll be taking a vote. We’ll be encouraging our fellow citizens to take a vote,” Johnson said, as quoted by the AP. “Now, it may not be life and death, like the vote passengers on United Flight 93 took, but boy is it consequential.”

Johnson said Monday in an interview with local radio station WTMJ that he’s told the story “dozens of times” because it inspires him to “keep moving forward, to never give up on this country.”

“I used my unique contact with the finest among us and visiting them in Walter Reed and the inspiration they provide, and the inspiration provided by these heroes of 9/11 who — who — knew that their plane had been turned into a weapon, OK, but still took the vote,” he said.

Johnson added that he believed his Democratic opponent, Russ Feingold, was behind the comparison.

“The fact that the hacks in the Feingold campaign would try to politicize this is literally disgusting,” Johnson said.

Listen below:

h/t: The Hill

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