Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) on Tuesday said it is “disgraceful” for some Republicans to be mocking Paul Pelosi, the husband of Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), after he was violently attacked at the couple’s San Francisco home last week.
Cheney, speaking with journalist Judy Woodruff at an event put on by The City Club of Cleveland, specifically called out members of former President Trump’s family.
“The fact that while Paul Pelosi was in ICU, had been brutally attacked, had a skull fracture and numerous other injuries, that there were members of my party mocking him, that there were members of President Trump’s family mocking him, that’s not who we are in this country,” Cheney said.
“That is disgraceful. And as Americans, we have to reject it. We have to be willing to say we can have disagreements, we can have debates, we can have intense debates, but violence cannot ever be part of our discourse,” she added.
Paul Pelosi, 82, was violently attacked overnight on Friday when the suspect — identified by police as David DePape, 42 — allegedly broke into the couple’s San Francisco home and struck him with a hammer.
Paul Pelosi was transported to the hospital and underwent successful surgery to treat a skull fracture and serious injuries to his right arm and hands, according to the Speaker’s spokesperson.
Since Friday’s incident, some Republican lawmakers and political figures have mocked the attack on Paul Pelosi.
Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of the former president, retweeted a photo on Sunday of a pair of underwear and a hammer with the caption, “Got my Paul Pelosi Halloween costume ready.”
“The internet remains undefeated… Also if you switch out the hammer for a red feather boa you could be Hunter Biden in an instant,” Trump Jr. wrote alongside the tweet.
Kari Lake, the Republican nominee for governor in Arizona, knocked the security at the Pelosis’ San Francisco residence during a campaign stop on Monday.
“It is not impossible to protect our kids at school. They act like it is,” Lake said.
“Nancy Pelosi — well, she’s got protection when she’s in D.C. Apparently her house doesn’t have a lot of protection,” she added, prompting laughs from the crowd and event moderator.
DePape has been charged with several state and federal charges, including attempted murder and attempted kidnapping. According to the Justice Department’s affidavit, both Paul Pelosi and DePape said the suspect was searching for the Speaker when he allegedly broke into the residence.
A source familiar with the investigation told The Hill on Friday that before the assault occurred, the alleged intruder confronted Paul Pelosi and shouted, “Where is Nancy? Where is Nancy?”
The violent attack targeting the Nancy Pelosi follows years of Republicans disparaging and threatening the Democratic leader.
Cheney on Tuesday condemned the “demonization” from individuals on both sides of the political aisle.
“I think that the demonization that goes on on both sides, certainly Republicans have through the years demonized Speaker Pelosi, Democrats have demonized Republicans, including my dad. And it all has to stop,” Cheney said, referring to her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, who served during the George W. Bush administration.
“As a nation, we all should be keeping the Pelosi family in our prayers. We all should recognize that we cannot go over an abyss of not being able to have the common human decency to stand against that violence, to condemn the violence, to pray for Mr. Pelosi and his family, and to reject those who are acting in a way that frankly is inhumane,” she later added.