Fox News host Jesse Watters has criticised the police response to the attack on Nancy Pelosi's husband Paul because "a lot of people get attacked with hammers."
On Friday, 82-year-old Paul was violently assaulted in his own home with a hammer. The injuries were so severe that Pelosi had to be sent to a hospital but he is expected to make a full recovery.
The culprit has since been identified as 42-year-old David DePape. San Francisco Police Chief William Scott told reporters that DePape is facing numerous charges including attempted homicide.
However, Watters believes that DePape should be treated like other attackers. On Fox News, he said: "I want this alleged perpetrator to be treated the exact same way if he had attacked anyone else.
Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter
"A lot of people get hit with hammers. A lot of people get attacked. And a lot of times, they're out on bail the next day and it's a simple assault charge."
"So, I don't know why this guy is being treated differently. He's facing, what? Attempted homicide. He's in prison right now. We see people assault paople all the time, randomly, with all kinds of weapons and we see them released the next day.
"I don't know why this guy is getting all of a sudden special treatment or different treatment because the victim was so high profile."
Many have reacted to Watter's comments with horror.
\u201cthese people are monsters\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1666995760
\u201cFox News take on the attack on Nancy Pelosi\u2019s home and brutal assault on her elderly husband; \n\n\u201cA lot of people get hit with hammers\u201d\u201d— Rachel Parris (@Rachel Parris) 1667046025
\u201cAh yes, I regularly hear of hammer wielding men being set free no questions asked.\n\nAlso, I'm pretty sure, could be wrong, it's a Federal Crime to conspire to assault or murder a Member of Congress?\n\nIt's the intended target that matters too.\u201d— Alex Tiffin (@Alex Tiffin) 1667041758
\u201c"A lot of people get hit with hammers"\n\nBut do all of them have to present Fox News afterwards?\u201d— Matt Green (@Matt Green) 1667038246
\u201c\u201cA lot of people get hit with hammers\u201d. Really @FoxNews ? Are you really going to be complicit in blatant political violence? This piece is outrageous.\u201d— Terry Virts (@Terry Virts) 1667019257
Watters did go on to say that "thank god the police were there" before adding the Democrats had "defunded the police" in San Francisco.
President Joe Biden condemned the attack on Pelosi as DePape reportedly shouted "Where’s Nancy?" echoing the words that insurrectionists said during the Jan 6th Capitol Riot.
Biden said: "This is despicable. There’s no place in America. There’s too much violence — political violence — too much hatred, too much vitriol. And what makes us think one party can talk about stolen elections, Covid being a hoax, [that it’s] all a bunch of lies, and it not affect people who may not be so well balanced? What makes us think that it’s not going to alter the political climate? Enough is enough is enough."
Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.