House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) signaled on Monday that the violent assault on her husband, Paul Pelosi, on Oct. 28 will be factored into her decision on her political future.
In Pelosi’s first sit-down interview since the attack, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper asked the House speaker if she’d made a decision about potentially retiring if Democrats lose the House in the midterms.
“Well, I have to say my decision will be affected about [sic] what happened the last week or two,” Pelosi said.
“Will your decision be impacted by the attack in any way?” Cooper asked.
“Yes,” she replied.
Pelosi told Cooper that it was difficult to think about the fact her husband had been attacked because David DePape, the alleged assailant who broke into their San Francisco home and beat Paul Pelosi with a hammer, had meant to kidnap the House speaker, who was in D.C. at the time.
“For me, this is really the hard part because Paul was not the target,” Pelosi said. “And he’s the one who’s paying the price.”
The House speaker asserted that there was “no question” that the attack, which was allegedly prompted by DePape’s obsession with far-right conspiracy theories, aligned with the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, during which a mob of Trump supporters hunted for Pelosi while chanting “Where’s Nancy?”–just like DePape allegedly did when he confronted Paul Pelosi during the break-in.
“I do think that there has to be some message to the Republicans to stop, to stop the disinformation, because that is, without any question, a source of what happened on January 6th, and then the denial of all of that, and then the source of what is happening to me right now,” Pelosi told Cooper.
The House speaker slammed the Republicans who have joked about the assault.
“In our democracy, there is one party that is doubting the outcome of the election, feeding that flame and mocking the violence that happens,” she said. “That has to stop.”
The Democratic leader said her husband was on “a good path” to recovery from the surgery he underwent to treat a fractured skull and injuries on his right arm.
“He’s such a gentleman that he’s not complaining,” Pelosi said. “But he’s also knowing that it’s a long haul.”
Watch the interview below:
