WASHINGTON — In her first publicly broadcast comments since her husband, Paul Pelosi, was attacked by an intruder at the couple’s San Francisco home, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said his recovery was “going to be a long haul, but he will be well.”
“It’s just so tragic how it happened,” Ms. Pelosi said in a video her team posted online on Friday, adding, “We have to be optimistic.”
Ms. Pelosi’s brief remarks on her husband appeared to be part of a virtual call to discuss organizing for the midterm elections next week. In the video, Ms. Pelosi appeared seated before a bookshelf decorated with family photos and said she was at her home with her husband, who was surrounded by family. She thanked well-wishers for “your kind words, your prayers and your good wishes for Paul.”
Mr. Pelosi, 82, was injured when the intruder hit him on the head with a hammer early in the morning on Oct. 28 before being tackled and restrained by police officers. The intruder demanded to see Ms. Pelosi, who was in Washington at the time, according to the authorities.
The suspect, David DePape, later told the police that he saw Ms. Pelosi as “the ‘leader of the pack’ of lies told by the Democratic Party” and that he wanted to break her kneecaps if she “lied” to him.
Ms. Pelosi has not commented on the apparent motivation behind the attack or the determination by authorities that she was the intended target. She has long been a top target of threats, and last week’s assault revealed the vulnerabilities in security around members of Congress and their families — even for a lawmaker as powerful and wealthy as Ms. Pelosi, who is second in line to the presidency and has her own security detail.
In most of the 28-minute video, Ms. Pelosi talked about various aspects of the midterm elections. At one point, she appeared to grow emotional, her voice faltering as she alluded to fears of political violence while speaking about the importance of voting rights and the need to have secure polling places.
“The protection — I’m sorry,” she said, pausing for a moment. “That is driven home to me — the fear that some people have about what’s out there coming at poll workers and the rest — we have to have the public safety. We have to have the law enforcement to make sure that our voting sites are safe.”
She added: “There is reason to be concerned, but we can’t be fearful. We have to be courageous.”
Mr. Pelosi was released from Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital on Thursday after undergoing surgery for a skull fracture and treatment for injuries to his arm and hand. In a statement on Thursday, Ms. Pelosi had said her husband remained under the care of doctors and was facing “a long recovery process.”
Mr. DePape has been charged by federal prosecutors with attempting to kidnap Ms. Pelosi and assaulting a relative of a federal official. He pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to several state felony charges.
Source: NY Times
