Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi, is expected to make a full recovery after being attacked with a hammer by an intruder in the family’s San Francisco home early Friday. He underwent surgery for a skull fracture and other injuries. The assailant reportedly shouted “Where is Nancy? Where is Nancy?” during the attack. The House speaker was in Washington at the time. Police have arrested suspect David DePape. The 42-year-old white man has an online history of far-right conspiracies, antisemitism and hate. On Saturday, Nancy Pelosi spoke out about the attack in a letter to her fellow congressmembers, saying she and her family are “heartbroken and traumatized.”
Some Democrats have called out Republicans for their silence, and for enabling the rise of political violence in recent years. Congressmember Ilhan Omar tweeted, “A far right white nationalist tried to assassinate the Speaker of the House and almost killed her husband a year after violent insurrectionists tried to find her and kill her in the Capitol, and the Republican Party’s response is to either ignore it or belittle it.”
Meanwhile, Twitter’s new owner, Elon Musk, tweeted a link to an article with a right-wing conspiracy theory about the attack, from a site known for spreading misinformation. The site, the Santa Monica Observer, previously said Hillary Clinton died on September 11 and was replaced by a body double. Musk posted the article in response to a tweet by Hillary Clinton, but deleted it hours later.