Trump Calls Attack on Paul Pelosi a 'Terrible Thing' as He Rails Against Crime (Newsmax)
By Brian Freeman | Monday, 31 October 2022 01:13 PM EDT
Former President Donald Trump called the attack on Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband in their San Francisco home a "terrible thing" as he railed against crime in Democrat-led cities in an interview with the conservative Spanish-language network Americano Media on Sunday.
"With Paul Pelosi, that’s a terrible thing. With all of them, it’s a terrible thing," Trump said. "Look at what’s happened to San Francisco, generally. Look at what’s happening in Chicago. It was far worse than Afghanistan."
The former president said that "we have to give the police back their dignity, their respect. They can solve the problem. But today if a police officer says something that’s slightly out of line, it’s like the end of his life, the end of his pension, the end of his family.
"We can’t do that. We have to give the police back their authority and their power and their respect. Because this country is out of control."
Trump, when asked about the attack on Pelosi in the greater context of increasing crime rates nationwide, said that "these people are crazy," referring to Illinois politicians who passed a law last year abolishing cash bail, which goes into effect next year. "They’re gonna release stone-cold killers from jails; nobody knows why. I mean, they need room, or something," the New York Post reported.
Trump, who repeatedly derides the speaker as "crazy Nancy," had kept quiet about the attack on Paul Pelosi over the weekend, even as others in the Republican Party had spoken out against it, The Hill reported.
Many Democrats urged those in both parties to unequivocally condemn the attack as they expressed concern about an increase in political violence.
Democrats have connected the attack and the suspect's rhetoric to claims by Trump and other Republicans that the 2020 election was stolen.