In her first sit-down interview since her husband was attacked last month at their San Francisco home, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the assault was driven by misinformation and called for national healing.
“It’s really sad because it was a flame fueled by misinformation,” Pelosi said in an interview with Anderson Cooper that aired Monday night on CNN.
Paul Pelosi, 83, was left with a fractured skull and serious injuries to his right arm and hands after an attacker broke into the Pelosi home Oct. 28 and struck him with a hammer.
David DePape, 42, has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder, kidnapping and other charges he faces in connection with the attack. Federal authorities said DePape had plotted to take Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) hostage and break her kneecaps, calling her the “leader of the pack” of lies told by the Democratic Party.
“Paul was not the target, and he’s the one paying the price,” Nancy Pelosi said in the CNN interview.
She said her husband was doing OK “but it’s a long haul.”
He was struck on top of his head in two places, but the blows did not pierce his brain, she said.
“Any revisiting is traumatizing,” she said, adding that reentering their home for the first time was difficult for her husband.
Pelosi said she agreed with connections made by President Biden between DePape and the people who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
“Do you draw that same line?” Cooper asked her.
“Absolutely,” she said. “There’s no question it’s the same thing … inflamed by the same misrepresentations.
“But the fact is, right now, it’s time for healing…. This is not a path that we can continue on,” she said.
Pelosi also criticized reactions from Republican figures who made light of the attack and spun conspiracy theories about the incident.
“You see what the response is from the other side of this, to make a joke of it. That is traumatizing too,” she said.
The attack has also affected Pelosi’s political future, she said when asked by Cooper.
The 82-year-old is expected to win another term Tuesday as representative for the 12th Congressional District in San Francisco. Cooper asked her whether she would consider retiring if Democrats lose the House, ending her time as speaker.
“My decision will be affected by what has happened the last week or two,” she said.
