Former Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill (D) suggested Tuesday she believed January’s unrest was worse than the 2012 attack on the American embassy in Libya — though she said she didn’t “want to minimize” the deaths that took place.

“I have one word: Benghazi,” McCaskill said in a morning interview on MSNBC. “Benghazi had, in the House alone, six investigations, including a select committee. And it was — if you compare and contrast, I don’t want to minimize the loss of life in Benghazi or the problems around the security of those locations. I don’t want to minimize that. But let’s compare and contrast those two events and which is more foundation-shaking to our democracy.

“I mean, the fact that the heart of our government was attacked and that these people were beating police officers — Americans were beating police officers at the heart of our government trying to protect the members — elected members of our democracy that carry out the functions of that democracy, it is astounding to me that these same people who pounded the podium for years on Benghazi, for years on Benghazi, are saying now saying, ‘What?! No. We don’t need to look at this. Let’s move along,'” McCaskill added.

House Democrats voted last week to establish a select committee to investigate the events that took place on Jan. 6 after former President Donald Trump held a rally in the nation’s capital. Just two Republicans — Reps. Adam Kinzinger (IL) and Liz Cheney (WY) — voted in favor of the move.

Several people died amid the protest, including 35-year-old protester Ashli Babbitt, who was shot by security personnel in the Capitol. One more person, 42-year-old Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, died as the result of a stroke. Prosectors are still determining whether to bring charges in that case. Other deaths included 34-year-old Roseanne Boyland, who a medical examiner said died of “acute amphetamine intoxication,” and two more attendees who died of a heart attack and stroke.

Four Americans — including Ambassador Christopher Stevens — were killed on Sept. 11, 2012, when an Islamic militant group facilitated a mob’s surprise attack on the U.S. embassy in Benghazi, Libya. Officials including then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suggested the mob had been provoked by a YouTube video, which contributed to years of congressional inquiries into the matter.

Referencing House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), McCaskill added, “McCarthy proudly said he was doing Benghazi to hurt Hillary Clinton’s numbers. It was obvious, it was such a brutal, bold political move. This doesn’t have to be. They’re making it political by refusing to come together and do what most Americans want, and that is find out what Trump did, why he didn’t do more, why the Pentagon wasn’t ready, all of the questions that still remain unanswered.”

Watch above via MSNBC.

The post McCaskill Suggests Jan. 6 Was Worse than Benghazi: ‘Which Was More Foundation-Shaking to Our Democracy?’ first appeared on Mediaite.

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