Pelosi attack: Both sides condemn violence but differ on where to put responsibility

WASHINGTON – Congressional candidates across the country braced Sunday for the final days of an already tense election now shadowed by violence – the attack on the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Members of both parties condemned the hammer beating of Paul Pelosi, while some Democrats pointed out that the suspect espoused conspiracy theories about Donald Trump's loss of the 2020 presidential election.

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, told CNN's "State of the Union" that "it's disgusting ... this violence is horrible."

President Joe Biden and other Democrats noted that suspect David DePape, 42, reportedly asked Paul Pelosi, "Where's Nancy?" – the same question asked by some rioters at the U.S. Capitol during the insurrection of Jan. 6, 2021.

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"What makes us think one party can talk about stolen elections, COVID being a hoax ... and it not affect people who may not be so well-balanced?" Biden said during a dinner of Pennsylvania Democrats. "What makes us think that it’s not going to alter the political climate? Enough is enough is enough.”

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., appearing on NBC's "Meet the Press," said Nancy Pelosi has "has been villainized for years" and "it's gone viral, and it went violent." She cited attacks by "this group of MAGA extremists, who, by the way, are putting up candidates on the ballot that Donald Trump supports."

Ronna McDaniel, chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, said on "Fox News Sunday" that it is unfair to link the Republicans to the assailant of Paul Pelosi.

"This is a deranged individual," McDaniel said.

The attack on Paul Pelosi occurred as congressional candidates across the country are seeking votes during early voting periods leading into Election Day on Nov. 8.

Republicans are favored to win control of the U.S. House, while control of the U.S. Senate is a toss-up, with a possible tilt toward the Democrats, according to polls and political prognosticators.

The FiveThirtyEight website as of Sunday gives Republicans an 81-in-100 chance to win the House, and Democrats a 51-in-100 chance to retain or even expand control of the Senate.

A USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll says Republicans are surging amid criticism of Biden and uncertainty over the U.S. economy. The poll showed that, on a generic ballot, respondents favor a Republican congressional candidate over a Democratic one by 49% to 45%.

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Democratic or Republican control of the Senate is likely to boil down to close races in Pennsylvania (John Fetterman and Mehmet Oz), Nevada (Catherine Cortez Masto and Adam Laxalt) and Georgia (Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker).

The campaigns have largely been conducted in a negative atmosphere.

Election workers nationwide have expressed concern about threats from Trump supporters and other political activists, similar to the protests of the 2020 balloting.

Some Republican candidates, meanwhile, have been criticized for aggressive political attacks on Nancy Pelosi and her leadership of House Democrats.

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Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Minn., chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, took heat over a tweeted video showing him firing a gun and expressing support for Second Amendment gun rights; the tweet included the hashtag "#FirePelosi."

Emmer, appearing on CBS' "Face the Nation," said the video was about gun ownership rights, and denounced the idea that it was in any way a threat against Pelosi.

Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, D-N.Y., chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, told CBS that the specter of more protested elections raises worries about political violence, "especially when people are trying to intimidate people with weapons, when they engage in these tactics to try to undermine confidence."

In the wake of the attack on Paul Pelosi, members of both parties called for more restraint in campaign rhetoric.

"We’ve got to figure out how to bring our country back together where we have a civil conversation and we have no violence," Scott said on ABC's "This Week."

Klobuchar said this is "also about making sure we don't add more election deniers to our political system."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dems cite GOP conspiracy theories as parties decry Paul Pelosi attack