Paul Pelosi attack latest: GOP reacts with mockery and sincerity to violent assault as Nancy Pelosi breaks silence

Questions have been raised around what impact the attack on Paul Pelosi could have on the midterms.

Republicans have used fear of crime in Democratic-led cities as a successful wedge issue in the lead up to the 8 November midterms.

In competitive races in Wisconsin, Georgia, New York and Pennsylvania, Republicans have plunged tens of millions of dollars into branding their rivals as part of a “defund the police” Democrats.

NPR reported that Republicans spent $40m on crime-related political messaging in September alone.

Fox News wasted no time tying the attack on Mr Pelosi to the GOP talking points on crime.

In a clip shared by Matthew Gertz of Media Matters, anchor Bill Hemmer said the hammer attack showed that “crime hits everybody”.

“This can happen anywhere, crime is random and that’s why it’s such a significant part of this election story,” he said.

According to a recent ABC News/Ipsos poll, 35 per cent of respondents said they trusted Republicans to do a better job on crime, compared to 22 per cent who favoured Democrats.

In San Francisco, voters overwhelmingly voted to recall the city’s liberal District Attorney Chesa Boudin in June.

Find out more about the midterms here:

Yesterday morning, a violent man broke into our family home, demanded to confront me and brutally attacked my husband Paul. Our children, our grandchildren and I are heartbroken and traumatized by the life-threatening attack on our Pop. We are grateful for the quick response of law enforcement and emergency services, and for the life-saving medical care he is receiving.

Please know that the outpouring of prayers and warm wishes from so many in the Congress is a comfort to our family and is helping Paul make progress with his recovery. His condition continues to improve.

We are also comforted by the words of the Book of Isaiah: “Do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

We thank you and pray for the continued safety and well-being of your family.

David DePape, the 42-year-old man accused of attacking Paul Pelosi with a hammer, is scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday over the assault.

Mr DePape is facing charges of attempted homicide, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, burglary and other felonies over the Friday attack on the 82-year-old husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

He is expected to be charged on Monday.

He may also face federal charges.

The man who allegedly broke into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s home and attacked her husband with a hammer had entered the home with a bag containing multiple zip ties, a source told CNN.

The new details comes after law enforcement sources previously revealed that the suspect David DePape tried to tie up 82-year-old Paul Pelosi during the violent assault.

Mr DePape is believed to have entered the San Francisco home of the couple through the back door. Broken glass was seen on the patio outside the back of the house in the aftermath of the incident.

The man who allegedly attacked Paul Pelosi in the couple’s San Francisco home is “mentally ill” and once “thought he was Jesus”, according to his former partner.

Well-known activist Gypsy Taub, who has three children with David DePape and was herself convicted on 20 counts last year including the attempted abduction of a 14-year-old boy, told ABC7 that when she first met him around 20 years ago he didn’t have much experience of politics.

“Well when I met him, he was only 20 years old ,and he didn’t have any experience in politics, and he was very much in alignment with my views and I’ve always been very progressive,” she said, adding: “I absolutely admire Nancy Pelosi.”

But, he has suffered with his mental health for a long time, she said, describing one instance where he disappeared for a year from their home.

“He came back in very bad shape. He thought he was Jesus. He was constantly paranoid, thinking people were after him,” she said.

“And it took a good year or two to get back to, you know, being halfway normal.”

She added: “He is mentally ill. He has been mentally ill for a long time.”

GOP Senator Rick Scott has condemned the assault on Paul Pelosi as “despicable” and called for lawmakers to be able to use campaign funds for security.

The former Florida governor and chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee spoke out about Friday’s violent attack on “This Week” on Sunday, saying that the US needs to get back to having “civil conversations” when there is a difference of opinion.

“Well, we’ve got to figure out how to bring our country back together where we have a civil conversation and we have no violence. I mean, what happened to Paul Pelosi is despicable, it’s unacceptable,” he said.

“One thing I did when I got this job in January 2021, I went to the Federal Election Commission and said, ‘could our senators and House members, could they use their campaign dollars to pay for security for themselves and their family?’

“Unfortunately, it’s become a more dangerous place, and we’ve got to do everything we can to lower the rhetoric have a civil conversation, but also make sure people are safe.”

David DePape’s former partner has sent her regards to the Pelosis as 82-year-old Paul recovers from Friday’s attack.

Well-known activist Gypsy Taub told ABC7 that she met the man accused of attacking Mr Pelosi more than 20 years ago and that they had raised their three children together until about seven years ago.

“I would like to express my deepest apology to Nancy Pelosi and her husband for the terrible tragic thing that happened,” she said to the Pelosis.

Barack Obama was heckled during a campaign rally on Saturday night while he was addressing the violent assault on Paul Pelosi.

The former president took to the stage at a rally in Michigan in support of Governor Gretchen Whitmer where he called on lawmakers to do “more” to “explicitly reject” dangerous rhetoric.

“But here’s one thing that we can feel, we know, if our rhetoric about each other gets that mean. When we don’t just disagree with people, but we start demonizing them, making wild, crazy allegations about them,” he said.

That creates a dangerous climate. And if elected officials don’t do more to explicitly reject that kind of rhetoric, if they tacitly support it or encourage their supporters to stand up inside voting places armed with guns and dressed in tactical gear, more people can get hurt.

“And we’re going to be violating the basic spirit of this country.”

As he spoke, a man in the crowd shouted out, interrupting him.

Mr Obama responded directly to the man, saying: “Sir, this is what I’m saying. We’ve got a process that we set up in our democracy.”

He added: “Right now, I’m talking, you’ll have a chance to talk sometime soon. We don’t have to interrupt each other. We don’t have to shout each other down.”

The attack on Paul Pelosi comes amid a surge in reported threats against members of Congress and at a time when Mr Trump and his supporters continue to push false claims of 2020 election fraud.

It also comes after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was the target of some of the mob of rioters who stormed the US Capitol on January 6.

Chilling footage from that day reveals how some of the rioters hunted for Ms Pelosi, chanting “Where’s Nancy?” as they ransacked her office.

Police said that the suspect David DePape broke into the couple’s home searching for the House speaker and was heard saying “Where’s Nancy?”

But, despite all this, right-wing commentators – including members of the right-wing media – are refusing to believe that Mr Pelosi was assaulted by a man targeting the House speaker.

Instead, they have been peddling baseless conspiracies to their base ever since.

Newsmax host Greg Kelly came under fire for suggesting that Speaker Pelosi even “staged” the attack that left her 82-year-old husband hospitalised with serious injuries.

“Just ‘wondering’ if Nancy Pelosi tried to STAGE her own mini January 6th. Complete with leaving the doors and windows OPEN for ‘insurrectionists’ and this Depepe fellow,” he tweeted on Friday.

“THAT or she can’t secure her home or office!”

Mr Kelly seemed to have second thoughts about his comments, later deleting the post.

Meanwhile, OAN host Dan Ball said on his show that “I don’t put out conspiracy theories” – but “I’m not buying the whole story”.

“I’m not buying the whole story that a right-wing antiSemitic weirdo got in and beat up Nancy’s hubs looking for her,” he said.

Elon Musk, who took over Twitter on Thursday, also peddled a conspiracy theory to his followers.

Elon Musk has shared a lurid, baseless conspiracy theory on Twitter about what transpired the night of the violent hammmer attack on Paul Pelosi – just days after he took over the social media platform on the promise of stripping away content moderation.

On Saturday, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton hit out at members of the GOP for spreading “hate and deranged conspiracy theories” after it emerged that Mr Pelosi’s alleged attacker had been spewing far-right conspiracies online in the lead-up to Friday’s assault.

“The Republican Party and its mouthpieces now regularly spread hate and deranged conspiracy theories. It is shocking, but not surprising, that violence is the result,” she tweeted.

“As citizens, we must hold them accountable for their words and the actions that follow.”

Mr Musk, who completed his takeover of the social media platform on Thursday, responded to Ms Clinton on Sunday by pushing a conspiracy theory to his 112m followers that the attack that left the 82-year-old hospitalised with serious injuries was not what it seemed.

The Independent’s Rachel Sharp has the full story: