Maine Independent Sen. Angus King compared hacking by Russian actors to the September 11 terror attacks on Tuesday morning.
King was speaking at an event in Lewistown, Maine, when he equated “attacks” with keyboards to the 9/11 hijackers flying their planes into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. According to King, the attacks were similar because they were not attempts to “conquer” but rather to attack “who we are.”
A video of King’s full comments was provided to The Daily Caller by Eric Brakey’s Senate campaign.
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“That was the beginning of an attack that I would argue is continuing today,” King said. “They used airplanes [to crash] into towers; now people can use the click of a computer key in St. Petersburg, Russia, to attack.”
“It’s an attack that continues, and it’s the same kind of attack today that occurred in 2001,” he said. “It’s an attack on who we are.”
Eric Brakey, a Republican running against King for U.S. Senate, condemned the Senator’s comments in a statement.
“I am appalled that Angus King, on today of all days, compared the brutal terrorist attacks of 9/11 and the murder of over 3,000 innocent Americans to Russian computer hackers. The two things are simply incomparable, and reflect the deranged thinking of Angus and his liberal allies,” Brakey said.
“Sen. King’s crass statements are an insult to the victims, their families and our first responders. King should retract his statement immediately and apologize for his shameful remark,” Brakey concluded.
Sen. King’s office did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.