It was Democratic policies that led a Republican conspiracy-minded suspect to attack the Democratic Speaker of the House’s husband in a quest for the Speaker herself, according to the Republican Party chairwoman.
Fox News Sunday host Shannon Bream asked Ronna McDaniel to respond to a Washington Post story that detailed the GOP’s decade-long efforts to “demonize” Nancy Pelosi, asking what McDaniel made of the accusation that the party’s “increasingly violent and threatening rhetoric toward their political opponents” led to the attack.
McDaniel, characteristically, blamed Democrats and a lack of repudiation against those who wished violence against Republicans.
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“You can’t say people saying ‘Let’s fire Pelosi,’ or ‘Let’s take back the House’ is saying ‘Go do violence.’ It’s just unfair. I think we all need to recognize that violence is up across the board,” she said. “But I think the other thing to remember is, if this weren’t Paul Pelosi, this criminal would probably be out on the street tomorrow. We saw Lee Zeldin’s attacker was on the street right after he attacked him. This is what Democrat policies are bringing.”
While McDaniel referenced parts of the Post story, she neglected to mention other facets of the story, including how the GOP’s characterization of Nancy Pelosi has alluded to violence against her and how anti-Pelosi memes across the far-right spectrum often include violent threats.
The story also noted how, of the issues covered in campaign advertising by 2022 candidates, Pelosi comes up fifth with nearly $40 million spent on ads featuring her. She ranks lower than taxation, President Joe Biden, and inflation, but she does rank above immigration, a once-traditional GOP talking point.
Still, McDaniel spared some thoughts for the House speaker’s husband.
“But of course we wish Paul Pelosi a recovery,” she said. “We don't like this at all across the board.”
