Pelosi Discusses Attack On Husband As Trump Calls To End Her Career

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Shortly after Nancy Pelosi had her first sit-down interview since her husband was attacked with a hammer in their San Francisco home, Donald Trump took the stage at a rally in Ohio to call for an end to her career “once and for all.” “So I run to the door and I’m really scared,” Nancy Pelosi told CNN’s Anderson Cooper, describing when Capitol Police came to her door to tell her about the attack on her husband. She described the attack on her husband, Paul Pelosi, as traumatic for the entire family, especially knowing the attacker was willing to attack the 82-year-old while he was looking for her. Paul Pelosi is recovering from surgery to repair a fractured skull he suffered after being attacked with a hammer on October 28. San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins described the violence as “politically motivated,” based on comments from the shooter, David DePape. DePape, who has murky political ties and conspiracy convictions, faces state and federal charges including assault and attempted kidnapping. “You see the reaction from the other side to this, let’s joke about it, and really that’s also traumatic,” Nancy Pelosi told CNN, criticizing the way some Republicans responded to the attack, adding that she did not discuss specific details of the assault with her husband because “any review of it is really traumatic.” Shortly after the Nancy Pelosi interview aired, former President Trump took the stage at a rally in Ohio to support Senate candidate JD Vance, quickly turning his comments to attacks on the Speaker of the House. “You’re going to vote for an incredible American Republican ballot more or less,” Trump told his audience in Ohio. “And then you end Nancy Pelosi’s insane political career once and for all.” During his speech, the former president called the Speaker of the House, second in line to the presidency, an “animal” and expressed regret that she had twice led impeachment efforts against him “for nothing”. In her CNN interview, Nancy Pelosi also said the attack influenced her decision about whether to retire, but declined to elaborate on whether it prompted her to stay in her post or leave. Experts on extremism and political violence told Insider they are concerned about the potential for violence around the midterm elections, fueled by anti-democratic rhetoric and threats made largely by GOP politicians and Trump supporters. “It’s really hard to get normal people to commit violence, but it becomes easier when people are seen as less human, they become threats, and the violence is seen as defensive. MAGA politicians have done all three,” Rachel Kleinfeld, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for Peace and an expert on political violence, told Insider. Reps for Nancy Pelosi and Trump did not immediately respond to Insider’s requests for comment.