- In a CNN interview, Nancy Pelosi criticized Republicans and Elon Musk for joking about the attack on her husband.
- "You see what the reaction is on the other side to this, to make a joke of it, and really that is traumatizing," she said.
In an interview with CNN on Monday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi criticized some Republicans and Elon Musk for joking about the attack on her husband, Paul.
CNN's Anderson Cooper asked Pelosi, with all the security detail surrounding her and other members of congress, "how does this not happen again?"
"You would think there would be some level of responsbility, but you see what the reaction is on the other side to this, to make a joke of it, and really that is traumatizing too," Pelosi said. "In our democracy there is one party that is doubting the outcome of the election, feeding that flame, and mocking any violence that happens. That has to stop," she added.
While a number of Republicans have condemned the October 28 attack, which was called "politically motivated" by San Francisco's District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, others have made a mockery of it.
Arizona GOP gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake joked about the assault at a campaign event on October 31, according to CNN. When asked about her plans to increase school safety, Lake said, "It is not impossible to protect our kids at school. They act like it is. Nancy Pelosi, well, she's got protection when she's in DC – apparently, her house doesn't have a lot of protection." The response drew laughter from the crowd, as per CNN.
Cooper then asked Pelosi, "the former President of the United States, Donald Trump, Elon Musk, others, have spread stories casting doubt on what happened, fomenting conspiracy theories, what do you have to say to them?"
"It's really sad for the country that people of that high visibility would separate themselves from the facts and the truth in such a blatant way," Pelosi said. "It's traumatizing to those affected by it. They don't care about that obviously. It's destructive to the unity that we want to have in our country," she told Cooper.
Shortly after taking control of Twitter, Musk, in a since-deleted tweet, shared a link to a site with debunked conspiracy theories about Paul Pelosi's assault.
Responding to Hillary Clinton, who denounced the attack, Musk replied, "there is a tiny possibility there might be more to this story than meets the eye," linking to a site with the headline, "The Awful Truth: Paul Pelosi Was Drunk Again, And In a Dispute With a Male Prostitute Early Friday Morning."
Following Musk's baseless claim, a federal affidavit set the record straight on far-right conspiracy theories swirling online. Ron Filipkowski, a criminal defense attorney who tracks extremists on social media told Insider the gay tryst theory started with an erroneous report that the suspect was only wearing underwear. A KTVU reporter then retracted that report on Twitter, but it fueled rumors of homosexual prostitution, Filipkowski said.
The suspect in the attack has pleaded not guilty to charges including attempted murder and kidnapping.
Paul Pelosi, 82, is expected to make a full recovery. The speaker was in Washington, DC, with her security at the time time.
Representatives for Pelosi, Lake, and Musk did not respond to Insider's request for comment.