CNN
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi revealed how she learned of the attack on her husband Paul, telling CNN’s Anderson Cooper that she was “very scared” when Capitol Police knocked on her door.
In her first sit-in interview since the attack, Pelosi said she fell asleep in Washington, D.C., and her doorbell rang early in the morning after coming in from San Francisco the night before. “I looked up and it was 5 [a.m. ET]they must be in the wrong apartment,” Cooper told Cooper after asking where she was when he got the news.
Pelosi went on to say that the doorbell rang again, and then she heard “bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang.”
“So I ran to the door and I was so scared,” Pelosi said, describing what happened. “I saw Capitol Police and they said, ‘We have to come in and talk to you.'”
Pelosi described how her thoughts were immediately passed on to her children and grandchildren.
“I was thinking about my kids, my grandkids. I never thought it would be Paul because, you know, I knew he wasn’t going to run around, let’s talk. So they came in. At that time, we Don’t even know where he is,” she said.
The violent attack on Paul Pelosi has raised new concerns about the threat of political violence driven by partisan hatred and increasingly hostile political rhetoric, and highlighted the potential vulnerability of lawmakers and their families in the current political climate.
In the interview, Nancy Pelosi revealed shocking details about her husband’s condition following the brutal attack and discussed the aftermath of the incident.
Pelosi also reflected on the fact that she appeared to be the intended target of the attack. “For me, that was really the hardest part because Paul wasn’t the target, he was the one who paid the price,” she said. “He’s not looking for Paul, he’s looking for me,” Pelosi said later.
During the interview, Pelosi became emotional. “I almost cried several times during this conversation,” she said.
At the end of last month, Paul Pelosi was attacked with a hammer by a male attacker at the couple’s San Francisco home, authorities said. The attackers were looking for the Speaker of the House of Representatives, according to court documents.
David DePape has been charged with six counts related to the assault, including attempted murder, burglary, assault, false imprisonment and threatening family members of public officials. He pleaded not guilty to all state charges.
Nancy Pelosi’s spokesman, Drew Hamill, said in an earlier statement that after the attack, Paul Pelosi underwent “surgery to repair a fractured skull and serious injuries to his right arm and hand. “. He was discharged from the hospital last week.
Pelosi said her husband is “doing well” but is recovering “for a long time.” “He knew he had to pace himself. He was such a gentleman and he didn’t complain,” she said.
The spokeswoman said her husband’s surgery was “successful but only part of his recovery from a serious head injury”.
“It took time,” she said, recalling the road ahead.
Describing her husband’s head injury, Pelosi said the good news came when doctors “told us it didn’t pierce his brain and it could have been fatal.”
Pelosi said her husband was concerned about the emotional toll the attack could take on their children and grandchildren, while the family was concerned about the harm done to him.
“He was very concerned about the traumatic impact on our children and grandchildren, and we were concerned about the traumatic impact on him,” she said.
Asked if she had spoken to her husband about his thoughts during the attack, Pelosi said: “We haven’t quite had that conversation, because any revisiting it is really painful.”
Asked if she wanted to hear her husband’s 911 calls, Pelosi said, “I don’t think so. I don’t know if I have to. I just don’t know. It’s all legal.” But she added, “Paul saved his own life with that call.”
Pelosi criticized some Republicans’ response to the attack. “You’ll see what the other person’s reaction is to that, just kidding, it’s really traumatic as well,” she said.
“In our democracy, there is a party that doubts the outcome of the election, fuels the flames, and mocks any violence that occurs. This must stop,” Pelosi said.
Pelosi later referred to the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. “I do think there has to be some message to the Republicans to stop disinformation,” she said. “There is no doubt that this was the source of what happened on January 6, denied that, and then the source of what happened to me now.”
The attack has been condemned by both parties, but the response of some prominent Republican figures has come under scrutiny and criticism.
Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Cary Lake has argued that she did not take the violent attack lightly after she faced backlash for joking on the campaign trail and eliciting laughter from supporters. Asked at the event about her plans to improve school safety, Lake said: “It’s not impossible to protect our children in schools. They act like this. Nancy Pelosi, well, she was protected while she was in Washington. – Apparently her house doesn’t have much protection.” The crowd and the host burst into laughter.
Nancy Pelosi also said the attack on her husband would influence her decisions about her political future after the midterm elections.
Pelosi, one of the most powerful figures in national Democratic politics, has earned her reputation as a powerful leader of the House Democrats and wielded significant influence over her caucus. But speculation has intensified in Washington over Pelosi’s next move, whether she will decide to retire if the Republicans win back their majority.
In Monday’s interview, Cooper asked Pelosi if she would confirm that she had made a decision in one way or another about what she would do, noting that “there’s been a lot of talk about whether you’ll do if the Democrats lose the House. Retirement discussions.”
The speaker said “decisions will be influenced by what has happened in the past week or two,” prompting Cooper to ask, “Will your decisions be influenced in any way by the attack?”
“Yes,” Pelosi said.
“Will it be?” Cooper asked.
“Yes,” Pelosi said again.
Pelosi said she was “optimistic” that her control of Congress was in jeopardy ahead of Tuesday’s midterm elections, despite many in Washington predicting that Republicans would take back the House.
“I’ve always wanted to own the land and get the voting rights, and I’m confident we’re in that position. The races are close, and some of them might play out one way or the other,” she said.
However, Pelosi warned that she was concerned that democracy was on shaky foundations and said “our democracy is on the ballot.”
Pelosi warned: “I do believe our democracy is at risk because what others say will undermine our elections, even as we move forward.”
This story has been updated on Monday with more developments.