Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi said in an interview with SiriusXM's Zerlina Maxwell that Republicans won't cross President Donald Trump out of fear their families will be "threatened" or attacked just as her husband, Paul, was three years ago.
Paul Pelosi was attacked with a hammer at the couple's residence in the Pacific Heights neighborhood of San Francisco, California in October 2022. He was seriously injured and underwent surgery for a fractured skull; his doctors expect him to make a full recovery.
42-year-old David DePape was arrested at the scene on suspicion of attempted homicide and other felonies. He had intended to harm Speaker Pelosi and yelled, "Where is Nancy, where is Nancy?" during the attack, according to police who arrested DePape at the scene.
DePape had embraced far-right political conspiracy theories including QAnon, Pizzagate, ideas related to COVID-19 vaccine misinformation, and Holocaust denial. While Speaker Pelosi was the original target of the attack that ended with DePape's arrest, she was just one target on a list that included California Governor Gavin Newsom and Academy Award-winning actor Tom Hanks.
Commenting on whether she's been "surprised" or "shocked" by our political reality, Pelosi said:
"I've had a pretty close-up view of what he [President Donald Trump] stood for. What is shocking is the genius of our Constitution separation of power, the separation of power, that's it."
"Three independent branches of government, actually, the legislative branch, Article I, that the Republicans in Congress would be so ignoring of the institution they represent that they just melted the power of the incredibly shrinking speakership, the incredibly shrinking president, chair, whatever you call it, Republican leader in the Senate to do all these things to cater to the executive branch."
She added that the GOP is "afraid" of the consequences of going against the Trump administration's agenda:
"There were Republicans who were criticizing what is happening but hardly anyone's speaking out because everybody's afraid."
"There is real justification for fear because Trump is ruthless in how he's going after those who do not agree with him. ... They're afraid of the elements of the judiciary, of the Department of Justice. They're afraid of the FBI. They're afraid of all the fake investigations that he could start."
"And I'll tell you one other thing they're afraid of: They're afraid of what happened to us in our home, that one of the acolytes of Trump who just fed off of that stuff in the social media, came into our home, attempted, actually thought he killed, my husband. Thank God my husband survived. But that's what they're afraid of."
"They don’t want their children threatened, their families threatened, their lives in jeopardy because they speak out against him. And what did the president do after we were attacked? He made a joke of it as did his family."
You can hear what she said in the audio below.
Many concurred with her assessment.
She’s NOT wrong.Not REMOTELY!Dumald’s stochastic MAGAQultists are SIGNIFICANT element of utter CHAOS he ENCOURAGES. How many POLITICAL figures has it ALREADY threatened/KILLED (Remember Obama on a ‘Kill List’?)You can practically SMELL FEAR comming off Cap Hill… Perhaps even SCOTUS…
— Paul H. (@bilt2flyhvy-in.bsky.social) July 16, 2025 at 9:27 PM
Domestic Terrorism. No Justice for the last decade. Same problem as always
— Chris⚖️Justice (@chrisjustice01.bsky.social) July 16, 2025 at 7:16 PM
If Congress and the Senate did their jobs, they wouldn’t have to be afraid. Also if they spent their money on better security systems they would be safe in their homes.
— schwifty1.bsky.social (@schwifty1.bsky.social) July 16, 2025 at 7:28 PM
bull's-eye. as i posted so many times, thugs know how to do their business. not only against lawmakers but also to SCOTUS judges. the law enforcement turned into the fear enforcement overnight.
— Wine Cat (@wine-cat.bsky.social) July 16, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Since Paul Pelosi was attacked, other Democrats have been targets of political violence.
Last month, Minnesota state Representative Melissa Hortman was assassinated along with her husband at their home in Brooklyn Park, MN. Earlier that morning, state Senator John Hoffman and his wife were shot in their home in Champlin, another Minneapolis suburb. Both survived.
The shooter has since been captured and charged for the murders, firearm offenses, and stalking.
As Pelosi mentioned, Trump "made a joke" of her husband's attack—and Trump was characteristically unbothered by the Minnesota attacks, telling reporters that he didn't want to "waste time" speaking to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz after the shootings.