Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson on Saturday likened the 2016 election to the Sept. 11 terror attacks, suggesting the choice in some way resembles that made by the passengers on Flight 93.
The airplane ultimately crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pa., on Sept. 11, 2001 after passengers took a vote to try to overpower the hijackers to prevent the plane from getting to its intended target.
During a speech at the Wisconsin Republican Party convention in Green Bay, Johnson told the story of Flight 93.
“It may not be life and death, like the vote the passengers on United Flight 93 took, but boy is it consequential,” Johnson said of the 2016 choice, according to a report.
Johnson said the nation “is in peril” and that he is “panicked” for the future of the country.
Johnson is one of the most vulnerable GOP senators facing reelection in 2016. He told CNN he was open to stumping with presumptive nominee Donald Trump, but he did not fully endorse Trump.
“Stump with Trump?” he said in March. “Just because it rhymes: It’d be the Ronald [and] the Donald.”
Former Democrat Sen. Russ Feingold, whom Johnson unseated in 2010, is challenging Johnson this fall.
Wisconsin is a Democratic-leaning state that voted for President Obama in 2008 and 2012. A RealClearPolitics average of polls puts Feingold ahead of Johnson by nearly 6 points.
