Indeed, it would not be surprising if they continued exploiting 9/11 for this purpose in the years leading up to the 2024 presidential election. But it is not only high-profile members of the activist media and the left-wing intelligentsia that are propagandizing in this manner. Even Democrats in the government are politicizing the anniversary.

Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Mark Warner (D-VA) used the 21-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks to fearmonger about domestic threats coming from those pesky MAGA Republicans with the temerity to question the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. During an appearance on CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” he told host Margaret Brennan that he remembered how the country united after the attacks.

“I remember, as most Americans do, where they were on 9/11. I was in the middle of a political campaign and suddenly, the differences with my opponent seem very small in comparison and our country came together,” he said.

“The stunning thing to me is here we are 20 years later, and the attack on the symbol of our democracy was not coming from terrorists, but it came from literally insurgents attacking the Capitol on Jan. 6.”

Warner continued, arguing that now, the threat of radical Islamic terrorism has abated, but that election deniers now pose as big a threat as Al Qaeda did back in 2001.

“I believe our intelligence community has performed remarkably. I think the threat of terror has diminished … But I do worry about some of the activity in this country where the election deniers, the insurgency that took place on Jan. 6, that is something I hope we could see that same kind of unity of spirit,” he bloviated.

Warner isn’t the only one equating Jan. 6 with 9/11. Indeed, this year and last year, plenty of high-profile leftists, including Black Hillary – AKA Vice President Kamala Harris, argued that both of these attacks were equivalent in the impact they had on the country.

Kamala Harris on Jan. 6: "We cannot let our future be decided by those bent on silencing our voices, overturning our votes, and pedaling lies and misinformation." pic.twitter.com/gwNEQYKcbz

— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) January 6, 2022

But over the past few years, the FBI and Justice Department have warned the nation that the most pressing threat to national security in America is right-wing white supremacist terrorists. The Jan. 6 riot just makes it easier for them to continue pretending that neo-Nazis are just waiting with bated breath to start a race war.

Meanwhile, while Warner is correct in his assessment of the strength of radical Islamic terrorist groups like Al Qaeda and the Islamic State (ISIS), it would still be unwise to dismiss the threat they could pose to the nation. While they probably do not have the resources to pull off an assault of the magnitude of 9/11, they can still cause terror through other means.

Indeed, under former President Donald Trump, ISIS knew it had been decimated to the point that it could no longer hold territory, which prompted the group to fall back on plan B, which involves radicalizing people already residing in western countries. In fact, the organization used the COVID-19 crisis to win over more recruits using the internet, their typical modus operandi.

Most of the ISIS-inspired terrorist attacks that occurred on U.S. soil were carried out by individuals who became radicalized while residing in the country. This includes Omar Mateen, who carried out a mass shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, FL, and several others. Dave Patterson, former Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense, Comptroller under President George W. Bush, pointed out in an op-ed:

A terrorist threat not as prevalent before 9/11 but growing according to law enforcement is the domestic, or “homegrown,” terrorists, many of who are sponsored or influenced by a Foreign Terrorists Organization (FTO). “The FBI assesses HVEs (Homegrown Violent Extremists) are the greatest, most immediate terrorism threat to the homeland. These individuals are FTO-inspired individuals who are in the US, have been radicalized primarily in the US, and are not receiving individualized direction from FTOs,” FBI director Christopher Wray told the House Homeland Security Committee in 2019. Today the threat from HVEs and FTOs is growing with the open border policies of the Biden administration.

This is also an issue. With Biden’s policies creating a more porous border, radical extremists are trying to smuggle operatives into the country amid the ongoing migrant crisis. Indeed, the authorities have apprehended several individuals trying to get into the country who were on the terrorist watch list. How many managed to evade these agencies and are now residing in the U.S.?

This, combined with the fact that Al Qaeda and ISIS are both working to rebuild their networks while Biden’s administration focuses on those nasty MAGA Republicans, should give us pause. If only we had a president who cared more about keeping Americans safe than engaging in cynical politicking. Perhaps we can change that in 2024.