House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s daughter criticised Republicans who mocked the attack on her father Paul in late October in an interview with CBS Sunday Morning.
Alexandra Pelosi spoke with CBS’s John Dickerson to promote her upcoming documentary about her mother entitled Pelosi in the House. The documentary comes after her mother announced last month that she would step aside as House Democratic Leader after Republicans won the majority.
In late October, David DePape allegedly broke into the couple’s home in San Francisco and reportedly wanted to find the Speaker. In turn, he allegedly assaulted Mr Pelosi with a hammer. Mr Pelosi was released from the hospital in early November.
“I don’t think it’s ok for an 82-year-old man to be attacked in his home in the middle of the night because of whatever his wife does for work,” Alexandra Pelosi said.
The filmmaker said she hasn’t slept since the night of her father’s attack but said she was disgusted at how Republicans responded to the assault.
“What happened to him is one thing; what the outside world did with that for their own political fodder, is what’s much harder for us to handle as a family,” she said. “I don’t care who you are and who you vote for. Nobody should think it is funny that an 82-year-old man got attacked in his home. And yet, like, a sitting governor and a wannabe governor and members of Congress were laughing about it.”
Multiple Republicans joked about the assault. Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin joked about the attack the day the news broke while campaigning for a House candidate.
“There’s no room for violence anywhere, but we’re going to send her back to be with him in California,” he said. Mr Youngkin later apologised. Similarly, Representative Andy Biggs of Arizona, one of the chief promoters of election lies, joked about the assault.
“She's losing the gavel but finding the hammer,” he said at the time.
The younger Pelosi said that her mother leans into her Catholicism and patriotism to get through these moments.
“My mother leans into her faith. She has to believe in America. She has to believe in God. She has to believe in the Democratic Party,” she said. “She has to believe in the future of America. I don't.”
