Former President Trump in an interview Sunday called the attack on Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) husband in their San Francisco home a “terrible thing” as he railed against crime in Democrat-led cities.
“With Paul Pelosi, that’s a terrible thing, with all of them it’s a terrible thing,” Trump said in an interview with Americano Media, a conservative Spanish language outlet. “Look at what’s happened to San Francisco generally. Look at what’s happening in Chicago. It was far worse than Afghanistan.”
“We have to give the police back their dignity, their respect. They can solve the problem. But today if a police officer says something that’s slightly out of line it’s like the end of his life, the end of his pension, the end of his family,” Trump continued. “We can’t do that. We have to give the police back their authority and their power and their respect. Because this country is out of control.”
Trump remained silent on the attack on Paul Pelosi over the weekend, as others in the GOP sent mixed messages about it. Many Democrats, including President Biden, called for members of both parties to unequivocally condemn the attack as they worried about a rise in political violence.
Paul Pelosi, 82, was attacked early Friday morning in his home by an intruder, police said. Authorities arrived at the home and found the two men tussling over a hammer. The suspect then gained control of the hammer and used it to attack Paul Pelosi.
Paul Pelosi underwent surgery for a skull fracture and is expected to recover.
Before the assault occurred, the man confronted Paul Pelosi and shouted, “Where is Nancy? Where is Nancy?” according to a source briefed on the attack. The Speaker was not home at the time.
Biden and other Democrats tied the assailant’s rhetoric and attack directly to Republicans’ false claims that the 2020 election was stolen, something Trump still regularly promotes at rallies and on social media.
Trump and the Speaker have had a tumultuous relationship dating back to Trump’s time in the White House. The two briefly tried to work together for an infrastructure deal and on other legislative matters, but the relationship rapidly soured, particularly after the first impeachment of Trump.
Nancy Pelosi went viral for ripping up Trump’s State of the Union speech in early 2020. Trump repeatedly derided the Speaker as “Crazy Nancy.” She has frequently deemed Trump unfit to hold office, and most recently gained attention for saying she would have “punched him out” had Trump tried to come to the Capitol during the rioting there on Jan. 6, 2021.
Updated at 11 a.m.