The husband of Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the US House of Representatives, was attacked with a hammer at the couple’s California home two Fridays ago. “Where is Nancy?” Paul Pelosi’s assailant asked, echoing the chilling threats issued by January 6 rioters at the Capitol. It would be comforting to brush off the assault as the act of a lone, deranged conspiracy theorist, but the callous response from Republicans has been shocking.
It is not just Don Jr who has been milking the assault for laughs by retweeting a “Paul Pelosi Halloween costume” of underpants and a hammer. As his father toys with another run at the White House in 2024, rivals for the nomination have been cynically copying the elder Trump’s abrasive style of politics.
