President Biden called the attack on the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) “despicable” and suggested it was a natural result of the lies Republicans have spread about the 2020 election.” This is despicable. There is no place in the United States. There is too much violence, political violence, too much hate, too much vitriol,” Biden said at the start of remarks to Pennsylvania Democrats.
And what makes us think that a party can talk about stolen elections, that COVID is a hoax, that everything is a bunch of lies? Biden continued. “What makes us think that it will not corrode the political climate? It’s enough. Every person of good faith must clearly and unambiguously oppose violence in our politics, regardless of his party.
Paul Pelosi, 82, underwent surgery for a skull fracture and is expected to make a full recovery. Police said the suspect in the case violently assaulted him around 2:30 am Authorities arrived at the home to find the two men struggling with a hammer. The suspect then took control of the hammer and used it to attack Pelosi, who was in Washington DC.
Before the assault occurred, the man confronted Paul Pelosi and yelled, “Where’s Nancy? Where is Nancy? according to a source briefed on the attack. Biden on Friday connected that phrase to the events of Jan. 6, 2021, when rioters stormed the Capitol and many sought out Nancy Pelosi.
The attack on Paul Pelosi is the latest case of political violence that has been on the rise in the United States in recent years. Hundreds of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6 to try to stop the certification of Biden’s victory after then-President Trump and his allies claimed for weeks that the 2020 election was rigged and fraudulent.
A man was arrested in early June outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh while wearing bridles and a gun. A month later, another man was arrested and charged with making death threats outside the Seattle home of Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), a prominent liberal figure. Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-Ariz.) was shot during a district event in Tucson, Ariz., more than a decade ago, while Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) was attacked by a lone gunman at a baseball field in Virginia in 2017. They both nearly died.
Trump has remained silent on the attack on Paul Pelosi Biden and White House aides have repeatedly condemned the political violence, and so have several Republicans, including former Vice President Mike Pence, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky. ) and Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.
Vice President Harris told reporters that the attack on Pelosi was “an act of extreme violence” and that elected leaders have a responsibility to condemn such acts. “There is absolutely room and it is important to have a public discourse when there are disagreements about policy,” Harris said. “But what we’ve been seeing recently is so low, it’s below the dignity and intelligence of the American people.”
