Democratic congressional candidate Sean Casten said that President Donald Trump has a “tremendous amount in common” with Osama Bin Laden during a February meeting with voters.
“In many ways — and I don’t mean to sound overly, I don’t know, hyperbolic on this — Trump and Osama Bin Laden have a tremendous amount in common,” Casten said at a meet-and-greet in Illinois, according to audio obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
Osama Bin Laden was a founder of al-Qaeda and was responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. soil that killed nearly 3,000 people.
“They have both figured out how to use the bully pulpit to activate marginalized young men, right? It’s the same tool,” Casten said. “Every demagogue has done this — find a group of angry people and give them something to be angry at.”
Casten made the comparison after a woman asked him what he planned to do about gun violence. The woman wondered if there were cultural changes that can prevent “young, white males” from committing school shootings.
Casten is running against Republican Rep. Peter Roskam in Illinois’ sixth district.
UPDATE (Aug 31, 2018):
A spokesperson for the Roskam campaign issued the following statement to The Daily Caller:
“Sean Casten has called Republicans pedophiles, likened abortion to gallbladder surgery and called Republican Party donors ‘a bunch of morons.’ Our communities need a solutions-oriented Representative who can bring people together to get things done. This kind of hateful, vicious language is exactly the wrong approach.”