Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) likened the Jan. 6 Capitol riot to the infamous Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, during which more than 2,000 U.S. soldiers were killed and the country was dragged into World War II.
“January 6th is a day like that,” Cohen said during a Wednesday interview with CNN host Chris Cuomo. “It’s a day that should be remembered in America because our democracy was at stake. It was under attack as much as Pearl Harbor was an attack on our country.”
“This was an attack on the United States Constitution,” he continued. “They wanted to upset the Electoral College and to make Donald Trump the president, to eliminate people that stood in his way, which included his vice president, which included the speaker of the House, and they wanted to intimidate the Congress.”
“When [Trump] said you won’t have a country, he was saying the blacks, the Jews, the minorities, the gays, they’re going to be in charge, and you, the white, straight evangelicals here with me today, your country will not be yours. You will not have a country,” Cohen later added.
“He was basically telling them to go take your country back from the blacks, the Jews, the gays, the different people that they do not like. And that was a call from Trump, and it was racist as it could be. And he was involved, in my opinion, with all these folks, Roger Stone was, the whole team was, and they were trying to take over. He doesn’t give up. He didn’t give up. He didn’t want to give up power. He liked being president.”
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The attack on Pearl Harbor, according to the National World War II Museum, was devastating:
The attack killed 2,403 U.S. personnel, including 68 civilians, and destroyed or damaged 19 U.S. Navy ships, including 8 battleships. The three aircraft carriers of the U.S. Pacific Fleet were out to sea on maneuvers. The Japanese were unable to locate them and were forced to return home with the U.S. carrier fleet intact.
Five people died during incidents related to the Capitol riot, including Trump supporter Ashli Babbitt, who was shot by a U.S. Capitol Police officer. One of the other deaths was ruled an accident and the other two were natural, according to the medical examiner.
The medical examiner has yet to determine what killed U.S. Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick, who died a day after being attacked with chemical spray during the riot.
After the Capitol complex had been secured and Congress reconvened on Jan. 6, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) also compared the riot to Pearl Harbor. As The Daily Wire reported:
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) compared the unrest at the Capitol on Wednesday to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that led to the U.S. entrance into World War II.
“President Franklin Roosevelt set a day aside that will live in infamy,” Schumer said. “Unfortunately, we can now add January 6, 2021, to that very short list of dates in American history that will live forever in infamy.”
Sen. Schumer compares today's events to Pearl Harbor:
"Franklin Roosevelt set a day aside that will live in infamy. Unfortunately, we can now add January 6, 2021 to that very short list of dates in American history that will live forever in infamy." pic.twitter.com/mVMrVbuxQ8
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) January 7, 2021
Related: ‘Infamy’: Chuck Schumer Compares Capitol Chaos To Pearl Harbor