Australias Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack has doubled down on his remarks comparing the pro-Trump riots at the US Capitol on Wednesday to last years Black Lives Matter demonstrations against racial injustice.

On Monday, ABCs Radio National program asked McCormack, who is acting prime minister while Scott Morrison is on leave, whether US President Donald Trump should be removed from office for encouraging the violent attack on the seat of US government in which five people died.

It is unfortunate that we have seen the events at the Capitol Hill that weve seen in recent days, similar to those race riots that we saw around the country last year, McCormack said during the interview.