Fox News/Screenshot
In the immediate hours following news that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s 82-year-old husband was assaulted by a hammer-wielding assailant in their San Francisco home, Fox News hosts and commentators quickly moved to spin the attack as anything but politically motivated.
Even after reporting on the suspect’s reported embrace of right-wing conspiracy theories about COVID and 2020 election denialism, the network’s anchors wondered how to “connect all of that” to Pelosi as there’s a “missing trail of dots here.”
David DePape, 42, was taken into police custody early Friday morning after allegedly breaking into the speaker’s house and attacking Paul Pelosi. “The suspect pulled the hammer away from Mr. Pelosi and violently assaulted him with it,” San Francisco Police Chief William Scott said on Friday. “Our officers immediately tackled the suspect, disarmed him, took him into custody, requested emergency backup and rendered medical aid.”