RNC chairwoman criticizes Democratic policies after Paul Pelosi attack

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel on Sunday addressed the recent attack against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) husband Paul Pelosi but also took the opportunity to take a swing at Democrats, essentially blaming their policies for it.

“If this weren’t Paul Pelosi, this criminal would probably be out on the street tomorrow,” McDaniel said on “Fox News Sunday” with host Shannon Bream. 

“We saw Lee Zeldin’s attacker was on the street right after he attacked him. This is what Democrat policies are bringing,” McDaniel said, referring to an attack earlier this year at a campaign event for New York gubernatorial nominee and Rep. Lee Zeldin (R). 

But Zeldin’s attacker was not released after the incident in which he rushed a stage at a campaign rally in July, remaining in custody for several months until a federal judge released him to a rehab facility in October.

The RNC Chairwoman on Sunday pushed back against on Democrats with regards to political violence.

“I think this is a deranged individual. You can’t say people saying let’s fire Pelosi or let’s take back the House is saying go do violence. It’s just unfair,” McDaniel said.  

“And I think we all need to recognize that violence is up across the board. Lee Zeldin was attacked. We had an assassination attempt against Brett Kavanaugh and Democrats didn’t refute, you know, didn’t repudiate that. Joe Biden didn’t talk about the assassination attempt against Brett Kavanaugh.”  

The White House had been criticized for not being more forceful in condemning protests outside Supreme Court justice’s homes following a leak of its decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, instead encouraging peaceful protests but discouraging violence.

Paul Pelosi was violently assaulted in the family’s California home on Friday.

The GOP response to the incident has varied, with some, like former President Trump, staying silent. A number of Democrats have accused Republicans of stoking violence with aggressive calls to oust Pelosi or seize congressional power during the midterms. 

After a man found outside the home of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh was charged with attempted murder, some in the GOP were angry at the low media coverage and Biden’s silence. But later that month, Biden signed into law a bill to ramp up security for the justices and their families.