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Connecticut Dems Liken ISIS Attack in Afghanistan to January 6

A Jan. 6 protester and the victims of the Aug. 26 attack on Kabul / Edited from Getty Images
August 27, 2021

Just hours after ISIS suicide bombers killed 13 U.S. servicemen in Afghanistan, the Connecticut Democratic Party likened the attacks to the January 6 riot.

In a tweet sent Thursday night, the state party analogized "American terrorists" who attacked the U.S. Capitol building to "Afghan terrorists" who attacked the "Afghan capital."

The comment came just hours after the deadliest attack on U.S. troops in Afghanistan in a decade. ISIS-K, the Islamic State's Afghanistan branch, claimed responsibility for the attacks, which killed 13 American soldiers and at least 90 Afghans.

While one prominent Connecticut Democrat, Rep. Jahana Hayes, criticized the tweet, others have remained silent.

"This is in poor taste," Hayes wrote. "Let's stay singularly focused on evacuating ppl safely from the region. Not cool!"

Connecticut Democratic senators Chris Murphy and Richard Blumenthal did not return requests for comment. The state party on Thursday night and Friday morning promoted tweets from Murphy that defended the decision to withdraw from Afghanistan.

The Connecticut Democratic Party did not return a request for comment. The Connecticut Republican Party called on Democrats in the state to "condemn the shameful statements."

"Amid news that more than a dozen US service men and women were tragically killed, and dozens more wounded … the Connecticut Democratic Party felt it appropriate to post a twisted and vile message comparing American citizens to radical Islamic terrorists," the Connecticut GOP said in a statement. "This 'message' was so bad it was denounced by one member of the Connecticut Democratic congressional delegation, but, unfortunately, the remainder of our congressional delegation remained silent."

Democratic leaders also accused Republicans of using "our service members as political pawns" after a local GOP official blamed President Joe Biden for the chaotic withdrawal. But Republicans are not alone in criticizing the Biden administration's handling of the withdrawal. Former Connecticut Democratic senator and vice-presidential nominee Joe Lieberman called the decision "as disastrous as feared" in a Wednesday New York Post op-ed. Biden himself in a Thursday press conference said he bears "responsibility for fundamentally all that's happened of late."