Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is now sharing the moment she first learned her husband Paul had been viciously attacked inside their San Francisco home, bludgeoned with a hammer by an extremist who has touted right-wing conspiracy theories.
“I was sleeping. in Washington, D.C.. I had just gotten in the night before from San Francisco and the, um,” she says, pausing in apparent emotional pain, swallowing hard and seemingly near tears as she remembers the event.
“I hear the doorbell ring and think it’s five something – I look up I see it’s five,” meaning 5 AM, she tells CNN’s Anderson Cooper in an interview that airs Monday evening.
“They must be [at] the wrong apartment,” she explains was her first thought. “No, it rings again and then bang, bang, bang, bang bang on the door,” she says pounding her fist.
“So I run to the door, and I’m very scared, and I see the Capitol Police and they said we have to come in to talk to you and I’m thinking my children, my grandchildren. I never thought it would be Paul because you know, he wouldn’t be out and about,” she said, explaining her train of thought.
“And so like, um,” she says, again appearing to choke up. “They came in at that time – we didn’t even know where he was, what his condition was,” she said. “We just knew there was an assault on him in our home..”
The interview is bringing back feelings of anger and upset from many who were furious how Republicans mocked the Speaker and her husband, both 82-years old, after what prosecutors described as a “near-fatal” attack.
“The violent attack on Paul Pelosi has raised fresh concerns over threats of political violence driven by partisan animosity and increasingly hostile political rhetoric – and highlighted the potential vulnerability of lawmakers and their families in the current political climate,” CNN adds.
Outrage at the right was rekindled.
“This is what Kari Lake and Don Jr mocked and laughed at. This is what Donald Trump and Ted Cruz cast doubt on. To borrow a line: have they no decency?” responded MSNBC’s Mehdi Hasan.
“All of the conservatives who have been laughing at the their trauma should watch this one min clip and imagine if it was your family,” suggested The Daily Beast’s Matt Wilstein.
“The composure Nancy Pelosi shows in the face of such hate-filled violence is remarkable. Which makes it all the more despicable that Republicans tried to laugh off this act of domestic terrorism,” said Democratic pollster Matt McDermott.
Historian Rebecca Fachner also pointed to Pelosi’s composure.
“Watching her struggle to keep her composure is wrenching,” she observed.
“Every Republican (or anyone, really) who has made jokes about this are not fit to serve in any capacity whatsoever,” said political opinion columnist Teri Carter.
Watch below or at this link.