It is distasteful at best and inhumane at worst that Republicans have put House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the position of defending her family against GOP conspiracy theories after her husband was violently assaulted. Paul Pelosi was attacked on Oct. 28 in San Francisco when someone broke into the Pelosi family home, demanded to confront the House Speaker, and bludgeoned Paul Pelosi with a hammer. David DePape, 42, was arrested the same day as the attack after Paul Pelosi called 911, the Department of Justice reported in a news release. Soon after the attack, conservatives began spreading conspiracy theories that the assault was the result of a drunken lovers' quarrel. Paul Pelosi told police he had never seen DePape before the man appeared in the Pelosi bedroom looking for the House Speaker.
“But it wasn't just the attack,” Nancy Pelosi told CNN’s Dana Bash on State of the Union Sunday, “It was the Republican reaction to it, which was disgraceful. (...) I mean, imagine what, how, I feel as the one who was a target and my husband paying the price.”
She added that none of the Republican leaders who commented about the attack are “disassociating themselves from the horrible response that they gave to it.”
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The Department of Justice captured what was reported of the attack in its release and indictment:
According to the indictment, minutes after the 911 call, two police officers responded to the Pelosi residence where they encountered Paul Pelosi and DePape struggling over a hammer. Officers told the men to drop the hammer, and DePape allegedly gained control of the hammer and swung it, striking Pelosi in the head. Officers immediately restrained DePape while Pelosi was injured on the ground. As set forth in the indictment, once DePape was restrained, officers secured a roll of tape, white rope, a second hammer, a pair of rubber and cloth gloves, and zip ties from the crime scene, where officers also observed a broken glass door to the back porch.
DePape is charged with one count of assault upon an immediate family member of a U.S. official with the intent to retaliate against the official on account of the performance of official duties. He is also charged with one count of attempted kidnapping of a U.S. official on account of the performance of official duties. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison for the assault count and 20 years in prison for the attempted kidnapping count.
Even after the indictment was released on Nov. 9, Republicans have not walked back their early statements and implications, nor have they taken accountability for how they’ve contributed to this toxic political culture.
When Sen. Rick Scott was asked if Republicans should do more to reject conspiracy theories and dangerous rhetoric, he avoided the questions, saying we have to "condemn the violence" and "make sure people feel comfortable" about elections.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who called for Nancy Pelosi to be hung for treason, tweeted: “Violence and crime are rampant in Joe Biden’s America. It shouldn’t happen to Paul Pelosi. It shouldn’t happen to innocent Americans. It shouldn’t happen to me."
Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern had to remind the congresswoman of her own culpability. "YOU said she should be hung for treason," he tweeted, tagging Greene. "And now that someone listened, you're making Paul Pelosi's attack about YOU. This is what Republicans stand for, America. It’s sick."
Sign the petition: Attack on Pelosi home was an assassination attempt fueled by GOP rhetoric.
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When the House Speaker was asked if she thinks GOP responses to the attack on her husband “turned voters off,” Pelosi responded: “They tell me so.”
Her office published a transcript of her CNN interview on her website:
Dana Bash. Let's go now to a woman who knows that part of the country extremely well, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat of California.
Thank you so much for joining me this morning, Madam Speaker.
I want to, of course, ask about all of – everything having to do with the election, but I want to start by asking you about your husband, Paul. How is he doing?
Speaker Pelosi. Well, thank you for asking. Good morning.
Each day takes us closer to recovery. It's a long haul, but he's doing well, comforted by the good wishes and especially the prayers of so many people throughout the country. We thank them all for that and, again, so many have said, ‘I'm going to be sure to vote because this has gone too far.’ [...]
Dana Bash. Madam Speaker, you alluded to this when I asked about your husband, but I just want to ask specifically and kind of point blank about the fact that there has been such extremism, such political violence.
And what happened to your husband was horrific. Do you think that that had an impact on voters as they cast their ballots?
Speaker Pelosi. I don't – I know that what people tell me, that's anecdotal.
And we always say that the plural of anecdote is not data, necessarily, but it is a trend in what I'm hearing. But it wasn't just the attack. It was the Republican reaction to it, which was disgraceful.
And that I think, really – the attack is horrible. I mean, imagine what – how I feel, as the one who was the target, and my husband paying the price, and the traumatic effect on our family. But that trauma is intensified by the ridiculous, disrespectful attitude that the Republicans – and there's no – nobody disassociating themselves from the horrible response that they gave to it.
Dana Bash. Do you think that turned –
Speaker Pelosi. I don't want to go further into that.
Dana Bash. That turned voters off?
Speaker Pelosi. They tell me so.
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