Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday called out Republicans for making light of the recent violent assault of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) husband Paul Pelosi, saying it’s hypocritical of the party to try to turn the conversation to Democratic policies on crime.
“The reaction I've seen from a number of Republicans, both in person and online, making fun of that attack, somehow trying to turn it into a joke — the same party that wants us to be worried about crime? The hypocrisy is incredibly obvious,” Clinton said in an appearance on “CNN This Morning.”
“I want voters to think hard about: Why would you give authority to people who laugh at what happened to Paul Pelosi? … What kind of person is that, and why would we entrust any power to such a person?”’
Nancy Pelosi was in the capital last week when an intruder, armed with a hammer and allegedly looking for the Speaker, broke into her California home and attacked her 82-year-old husband, Paul Pelosi — who later underwent surgery for a skull fracture and significant injuries to his right arm and hands.
The suspect, David DePape, reportedly told police he was on a “suicide mission” and that he intended to kidnap the Speaker, hold her hostage and break “her kneecaps” if she “lied.”
Democrats responded to the incident with outrage, with some calling out their Republican colleagues for their heated rhetoric against the Speaker and her party.
Republicans, on the other hand, have generally condemned the violence, but many have pointed fingers at Democratic policies on crime.
“If you look at real crime statistics, which they’re not interested in examining, the states with the highest crime levels are the states run by Republicans,” Clinton said on CNN.
“It is also, sadly, a real indicator of where we are in our country right now that you would have people on the Republican ticket, like the woman running in Arizona, laughing about an attack on anyone, let alone an 82-year-old man whose wife happens to be second in line to the presidency,” the former secretary of State said.
Kari Lake, the Republican nominee for governor of Arizona, made light of the attack during a campaign event earlier this week, making comments that prompted laughs and applause from the crowd.
Other right-wing figures, like Donald Trump Jr., the eldest child of the former president, have made fun of the attack on social media.
“They don’t want to solve a problem, whether it’s crime, inflation or anything else. They just want an issue. You know, when given a chance to govern, they don’t want the responsibility. We saw that during COVID at the very highest levels of the Trump administration,” Clinton said Thursday.
"So when they talk about crime, they’re just trying to gin up all kinds of fear and anxiety in people. They’re not dealing with it. They’re not trying to tackle it. And so I view it as an effort to scare voters.”
