Saturday 29 October 2022 05:07 AM Biden links Paul Pelosi attack to Jan 6 and blames Republican 'lies' for ... trends now
Joe Biden has linked the hammer attack on Paul Pelosi to the January 6 riot, saying that the same Republican forces that questioned the 2020 election and called COVID a hoax were responsible for the feverish political environment.
Biden, speaking in Pennsylvania at a fundraiser for senate hopeful John Fetterman, said he had provided Nancy Pelosi with a plane to visit her husband in hospital in San Francisco.
He was attacked in the early hours of Friday by a hammer-wielding attacker, who yelled: 'Where's Nancy?'
She was in Washington DC at the time. Paul Pelosi, 82, suffered a fractured skull but is expected to make a full recovery.
'Before I began, I want us to take a short pause, to send our loved Nancy and Paul Pelosi,' Biden told the Pennsylvania crowd.
'I've been on the phone with Nancy – arranged for her to be able to get from Washington out to see her husband. She's on the plane now heading out there.'
Joe Biden, pictured on the campaign trail in Philadelphia, said 'there's too much violence — political violence. Too much hatred, too much vitriol.' He drew a direct line between the January 6 riot and the attack on Paul Pelosi
Biden on Friday likened the attack on the Pelosi family to the January 6 riot (pictured), noting that both times chants of 'where is Nancy?' were yelled
Biden said that the House Speaker told him her husband was 'doing okay, he went to the hospital, was operated on and he seems to be coming along well, he's in good spirits, and the whole family's there.'
The president said he could draw a direct line between the January 6 riot and the attack at their home, noting that the insurrectionists on January 6 also chanted 'where's Nancy' and made a beeline for her office, taking selfies amid her possessions.
'It was intended to be an attack on the house Nancy Pelosi lives in – the third ranking person the United States in line to be president,' said Biden.
'You know, it's reported that the same chant was used by this guy they have in custody that was used on January 6 in the attacks on the US Capitol.
'I'm not making this up. This has just been reported. I can't guarantee it. I can tell you what's been reported
'The chant was, 'Where's Nancy, where's, Nancy, where's Nancy.'
The attacker, David DePape, 42, has been arrested and will be charged with attempted homicide.
President Joe Biden with Vice President Kamala Harris at the Pennsylvania Democratic Party's 3rd Annual Independence Dinner in Philadelphia on Friday
Pelosi was taken into brain surgery after the attack but is expected to make a full recovery, while DePape is set to be charged with multiple felonies including attempted homicide. He is pictured with Nancy at the Time 100 Gala in 2019
Biden said the attack on the Pelosis was 'despicable.'
He added: 'There's no place for that in America. There's too much violence, political violence, too much hatred, too much vitriol.
'And what makes us state that one party can talk about stolen elections, COVID being a hoax, there's a whole bunch of lies, and it not affect people who may not be so well balanced?
'What makes us think that it's not going to corrode the political climate?
'Enough is Enough is enough. Every person of good conscience needs to clearly and unambiguously stand up against the violence in our politics, regardless what your politics are.'
Both Biden and Kamala Harris have been accused of hypocrisy in their response to the Pelosi attack.
Harris demanded people 'speak out against hate' following the attack - while she has still failed to condemn the attempted murder of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Harris, campaigning in Philadelphia on Friday ahead of the midterms, said the attack in the early hours on the Pelosi's San Francisco home was 'tragic'
