#NY state Sen. John Liu explains tweet saying Capitol siege was scarier than 9/11

A New York lawmaker from Queens is getting big blowback for tweeting that because of Wednesday’s Capitol riots, the 9/11 attack is no longer his most frightening memory.

“Seeing the Twin Towers crumble is no longer the most frightening moment of my life,” tweeted state Sen. John Liu (D-Queens).

The tweet, which Liu sent at 4:26 p.m. Wednesday afternoon, as the Washington, D.C., riot unfolded, is still being blasted as tone-deaf days later.

Terrorists killed 2,753 people in Lower Manhattan on Sept. 11, 2001, as they sent planes into the World Trade Center, sending the buildings crashing into the ground.

Overall, nearly 3,000 people were killed that day as multiple terror attacks unfolded at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and in Shanksville, Pa., where the passengers of United Airlines Flight 93 wrestled control of the aircraft from terrorists and forced it into the ground.

Two decades later, five people were killed during the stunning attack on the Capitol, in which many hundreds of rioters forced their way into the building, shattering glass, rifling through offices and prompting Congressmembers to flee for their safety.

Some of the rioters called for the hanging of Vice President Mike Pence after he agreed to certify the Electoral College vote in favor of Joe Biden.

“My tweet was an emotional response that failed to provide a fuller context and was not meant in any disrespect, especially to those who died on 9/11 and their families,” Liu told The Post, adding “9/11 is by far the most horrific and outrageous thing I’ve witnessed.”

The Capitol attack “evoked emotions of outrage, horror and fear that I haven’t felt since Sept. 11.,” Liu said.

“What happened on that day 20 years ago was by far the most horrific thing I saw in my life and can’t be compared, but watching on TV the American people’s house be attacked — not by terrorists but by other Americans — was frightening.

Liu was a candidate in the primary elections which were canceled by the 9/11 attacks. He went on to win, becoming the first Asian American elected to the City Council. He was elected to the state Senate in 2018.

“On Sept. 11, 2001, after they canceled the primary election that morning, I returned home int time to watch the towers fall, and I remember feeling the horror and the outrage and the fear, which I, nor any of us, will ever forget,” he said.  

Still, Liu was quickly slammed for the tweet.

“A little prone to hyperbole and theatrics are we,” replied a Twitter user in one of the kinder responses.