Nancy Pelosi makes first public comments since attack on her husband

In her first public comments since her husband was attacked in their home by an intruder with a hammer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Friday morning that “it’s going to be a long haul, but he will be well.”

The speaker’s 82-year-old husband, Paul, had been hospitalized for six days after the attack by an intruder in their San Francisco home in the early hours of Oct. 28.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is escorted to a vehicle outside of her and husband Paul Pelosi’s home in San Francisco, Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2022. Jeff Chiu/Associated Press

“It is with a grateful heart that I thank you for being here, coming together this morning,” the speaker said in a video posted to her Twitter account that appeared to be the start of a virtual call ahead of Tuesday’s midterm elections.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you, for your kind words, and your good wishes for Paul,” she continued.

She added, appearing to grow emotional: “It’s just so tragic how it happened. But nonetheless, we have to be optimistic. He’s surrounded by family, so that’s a wonderful thing.”

Paul Pelosi underwent surgery last week to repair a skull fracture and “serious injuries to his right arm and hands” and is expected to make a full recovery, the speaker’s office said previously.

The accused attacker, David Wayne DePape, 42, faces several state and federal charges related to the episode, including attempted murder, attempted kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon.

The attack comes amid a recent and sharp rise in the number of threats aimed at federal officials, and perceived enemies of former president Donald Trump.

Pelosi has for years been singularly targeted in an avalanche of Republican ads and commentary. The Capitol Police installed cameras around Pelosi’s home in the tony Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco more than eight years ago, reported The Washington Post, but the officers tasked with monitoring the 1,800 cameras surveying the Capitol and beyond only noticed the attack when they saw police responding to it.

Court records show DePape allegedly used the hammer to break into the Pelosi home and rousted the speaker’s husband, who was sleeping upstairs. “Are you Paul Pelosi?” DePape allegedly said when he confronted Pelosi, court records show, standing over him while holding a hammer and zip ties. “Where’s Nancy?”

Paul Pelosi managed to call 911. But when officers arrived and told DePape to drop the hammer, he pulled free and struck Pelosi in the head, knocking him unconscious.

In the video released Friday, the speaker sought to underscore the importance of the upcoming election, telling participants “our values are on the ballot.” She also sought to squash concerns that Democrats will suffer dramatic losses across the country, including in Democratic strongholds in New York and elsewhere.

“For some reason they keep saying there are Democrats who are not optimistic,” the speaker said. “I haven’t run into any of them. Whether they are donors, whether they are grass-roots activists, whether they’re candidates, everyone is optimistic.”