Several GOP leaders shifted their comments to other matters when asked to link Republican rhetoric to the attack on the House speaker’s husband.
Several Republicans on Sunday tempered their denunciations of an attack on Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), casting blame for political violence on “both sides” of the aisle.
While many GOP politicians have condemned the attack, former president Donald Trump has so far remained silent.
Paul Pelosi, 82, was continuing to recover from injuries, Nancy Pelosi said in a letter Saturday night, following surgery for a fractured skull and other injuries from an attack early Friday. San Francisco police have identified the suspect in the attack as David DePape, 42, who appears to have been deeply drawn into election falsehoods, political conspiracy theories like QAnon and fringe rantings from various right-wing sites.
On CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, called the attack on Paul Pelosi “disgusting.”
He then shifted the discussion to reports that Republicans have been vulnerable to politically motivated attacks, too.
“We had a door knocker in Florida that was attacked,” he said, referring to a recent attack on a Republican canvasser that Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) claimed was politically motivated. Police have not backed up that assertion. “I mean, this stuff has to stop.”
Asked whether Republicans should do more to reject conspiracy theories and dangerous rhetoric that fuels such attacks, Scott said the focus should be condemning violent attacks and ensuring election integrity.
On CBS’s “Face the Nation,” host Margaret Brennan questioned Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) about his Twitter post last week of a video of him firing a gun at a shooting range with the hashtag #FirePelosi.
Emmer, who is chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, defended the imagery, saying he was touting the Second Amendment rather than promoting violence.
He also returned to arguing about both sides when asked about armed people in Arizona staking out ballot drop boxes.
Emmer also brought up the 2017 shooting of House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.
