Among political leaders who have reacted to an unsuccessful assassination attempt on Donald Trump at the MAGA hopeful's Butler, Pennsylvania rally Saturday, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) expressed sympathy and relief — surprising some experts.
Taking to social media, Pelosi wrote via X (formerly Twitter): "As one whose family has been the victim of political violence, I know firsthand that political violence of any kind has no place in our society. I thank God that former President Trump is safe."
The former House speaker added, "As we learn more details about this horrifying incident, let us pray that all those in attendance at the former President’s rally today are unharmed."
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In October of 2022, Pelosi's then-82-year-old husband, Paul Pelosi, was brutally attacked by David DePape, an intruder with a hammer at the couple's San Francisco home.
In May, NBC News reported, DePape was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin praised Pelosi, writing, "This. Nothing else is appropriate at this moment."
Former US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan replied: "And maybe, just maybe, Trump might realize the horrific act of violence that almost cost your husband his life isn’t so funny after all..."
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Andrew Weissmann, former FBI counsel, commented: "Class act response vs. the Trump-MAGA response when her husband was attacked viciously with a hammer to his head.......Everyone shd be deploring violence and not creating a permission structure for it to occur."
Semafor Washington Bureau Chief Benny Carlin added: "As reactions come in, shocking to recall how many of them are leaders who have been personally touched by violence. Former Speaker below, current Majority Leader Steve Scalise, former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, whose husband is also a senator."
Mississippi Free Press News Editor Ashton Pittman pointed out the stark contrast between Pelosi's response to political violence against Trump, and the former president's response to political violence against the ex-speaker almost two years ago.
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"A reminder of how Trump responded when a supporter broke into Nancy Pelosi's home and brutally attacked her husband with a hammer," Pittman wrote, also sharing a screenshot from a September 2023 Politico report.
'''We’ll stand up to crazy Nancy Pelosi, who ruined San Francisco — how’s her husband doing, anybody know?' Trump said to a raucous crowd of California Republicans at a state party convention," Politico reported. "And she’s against building a wall at our border, even though she has a wall around her house — which obviously didn’t do a very good job," the former president added.
