GOP Lawmaker Calls on Both Parties to Soft-Pedal Political Rhetoric Over Paul Pelosi Attack

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) (L) and her husband Paul Pelosi, outside of 10 Downing Street in central London, on Sept. 16, 2021. Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images

Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) has called on both Democrats and Republicans to tone down their political arguments in relation to the attack on Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) last week.

In comments to anchor Pamela Brown Oct. 30 on CNN Newsroom, Comer said, “I condemn any attack of political violence from anyone of either party. It’s wrong,” adding that he believed “people in both parties are guilty of intense rhetoric that really feeds into these people who are deranged and create violence.”

His comments came after some Republicans blamed Democrat policies on crime for the upsurge in violence across America, while Democrats sought to tie the incident to Republican political rhetoric and the breach of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Comer told Brown: “I’ve said for several years now the rhetoric keeps getting worse and worse. And it’s very difficult, the environment out there.

“You have a lot of people that get so fired up because of various political causes. It puts many politicians in a dangerous spot,” he added.

The ranking member of the House Oversight and Reform Committee singled out the shooting at Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) at a congressional baseball practice back in 2017, saying, “It’s the same thing that happened with the shooter that shot at Steve Scalise and several of the Republican colleagues.”

“Violence is wrong. These people need to be put in jail for the rest of their lives and we need to try to do better in both parties, myself included,” he stressed.

His comments were echoed by Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) “Well, we’ve got to figure out how to bring our country back together where we have a civil conversation and we have no violence,” Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said in an Oct. 30 interview on ABC’s “This Week.”

“We’ve got to do everything we can to lower the rhetoric, have a rogue civil conversation, but also make sure people are safe.”

Democrats’ Rhetoric

President Joe Biden said at a fundraising event in Pennsylvania on Oct. 28 that the attacker allegedly used the “same chant” as individuals who breached the Capitol.

“You know, it’s reported that the same chant was used by this guy they have in custody that was used on Jan. 6 in the attacks on the U.S. Capitol,” he said. “The chant was ‘Where’s Nancy? Where’s Nancy? Where’s Nancy?’ This is despicable,” he said.

It isn’t clear if the alleged Pelosi attacker uttered those words. Some media reported, citing anonymous sources, that the suspect made that statement during the incident.

Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) shared his views, pointing to the Jan. 6, 2021 event.

“A far right white nationalist tried to assassinate the Speaker of the House and almost killed her husband a year after violent insurrectionists tried to find her and kill her in the Capitol,” she said. “And the Republican Party’s response is to either ignore it or belittle it,” she wrote on Twitter.

Republicans’ Response

In response, Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel contended that it is unfair to blame Republicans for the attack on Paul Pelosi.

In comments to anchor Shannon Bream on Oct. 30 “Fox News Sunday,” McDaniel said: “You can’t say people saying let’s fire Pelosi or let’s take back the House are saying go do violence. It’s just unfair.”

She further called out Biden and Democrats for downplaying the recent violence against Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) and an assassination attempt against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in early June.

“Lee Zeldin was attacked. We had an assassination attempt against Brett Kavanaugh. And Democrats didn’t refute—didn’t repudiate that. Joe Biden didn’t talk about the assassination attempt against Brett Kavanaugh,” McDaniel said.

“I think we all need to recognize violence is up across the board,” she noted.

Her view mirrored that of Donald Trump Jr., who opined that the assault should prompt Democrats to address violent crime more seriously.

The former president’s son blasted Democratic lawmakers’ ignorance of the violence that ordinary citizens have to face.

“Imagine how safe the country would be if democrats took all violent crime as seriously as they’re taking the Paul Pelosi situation. They simply don’t care about you,” he wrote.

Surging Crimes in San Francisco

The number of assaults in the city of San Francisco has risen 11.1 percent compared to 2021. The number of reported robberies, larceny, motor vehicle theft, and rape is also up from last year, according to the city’s police department data.

The Northern District of San Francisco, where Pelosi’s home is located, has seen a nearly 30 percent increase in assaults so far this year compared to the same time period last year.

National Police Association spokesperson Sgt. Betsy Brantner Smith said in an Oct. 28 interview on “Fox & Friends First“ that communities across the country were being forced to endure rising crime rates, blaming police resignations, and retirements for policing shortages.

LAPD Detective Jamie McBride also sounded an alarm about the crime upsurge in the city.

“It’s not safe here,” McBride warned. “I’ve been telling people for over a year, do not come to Los Angeles. We cannot keep you safe.”

Home of ‘Very Radical’ Activists

David DePape, the man accused of attacking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband with a hammer last week in the couple’s California home, reportedly lives in an area of very radical activists, according to journalist Michael Shellenberger.

“And, as I discovered yesterday, DePape lived with a notorious local nudist in a Berkeley home, complete with a Black Lives Matter sign in the window and an LGBT rainbow flag, emblazoned with a marijuana symbol, hanging from a tree. A closer look reveals the characteristics of a homeless encampment,” he wrote for Substack.

A woman named Trish told him that people who live at the home are very left-wing—”very radical” even.

DePape was arrested at the Pelosi home on early Friday, according to officials. Paul Pelosi described DePape as “a friend” in the 911 call, according to dispatch audio, and also said the man was “going to wait for” Nancy Pelosi.

Jack Phillips contributed to this report.