Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said it was “horrible” for former President Trump to joke about a violent attack on her husband, Paul Pelosi, in 2022, following comments he made on the campaign trail last week.
While campaigning in North Carolina on Friday, Trump said liberals are “imposing anarchy” on Americans while living in the safety of the walls around their homes.
“Nancy Pelosi has a big wall around her house, which obviously didn't help her problems,” Trump joked, in an apparent reference to his attack on Paul Pelosi.
“We don't have walls around our house” Pelosi said “He's always projecting his opinions,” he said during an interview on ABC's “The View” on Monday. “Maybe he has walls around his house. We don't have walls around our house.”
“They made a joke out of it and people laughed. So the trauma isn't just physical, it's other parts of it,” Pelosi said.
In October 2022, an intruder named David DePape broke into Pelosi's San Francisco home looking for the former speaker, who was on the East Coast at the time. When police arrived, DePape struck Paul Pelosi at least three times with a hammer, causing severe injuries including a fractured skull.
The longtime House Democrat said her husband is now “doing fine” and will “give it some more time to recover,” but added that the lingering trauma goes beyond his physical injuries.
“Being hit three times in the head was horrible, and it was physical,” Pelosi said, “but it's traumatic for him, it's traumatic for us, it's traumatic for the family, it's traumatic for other political families, it's traumatic for families across the country. No matter what we discuss, violence is not a solution.”
She also noted that President Trump and his allies were quick to begin mocking the attack after it happened, from Donald Trump Jr. to Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin (R-Virginia), who later sent a handwritten apology to Speaker Pelosi.
“It was awful when it happened. It was absolutely awful. When I first heard about the attack, I didn't even know if he was alive. But before you could say anything, your friend (who I will not name) was there and was making a joke about it,” Pelosi said of Trump.
“People were laughing, his family was joking. It's just horrible for a Republican governor to make a joke. It's just horrible. It's just horrible,” she continued.
DePape was sentenced to 30 years in prison for attempted murder in the attack. During his trial, his defense argued that even as he attacked Pelosi, he believed “with all his heart and soul” that his actions were stopping corruption in government.
Trump spokesman Steven Chan denied Pelosi's criticism in an email to The Hill.
“Nancy Pelosi has no idea what she's talking about and is a proven liar and con artist,” they said, mocking her title of “Honorary Speaker.” “When she's not busy giving herself fake titles to make herself feel better, she's spreading fake news because that's the only thing she's ever done.”
