Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday promoted conspiracy theories about the attack on Paul Pelosi, joining a string of conservatives who have sowed doubts since the 82-year-old was confronted in his bedroom by a hammer-wielding intruder last week.
During an interview on Philadelphia’s Chris Stigall radio show Tuesday morning, Trump vaguely suggested that “weird things” had been going on recently in the San Francisco home of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and her husband.
“The glass it seems was broken from the inside to the out so it wasn’t a break-in, it was a breakout. I don’t know, you hear the same things I do,” Trump said.
“It’s a lot of bad stuff, and I’m not a fan of Nancy Pelosi, but what’s going on there is very sad,” he added. “The whole thing is crazy. I mean, if there’s even a little bit of truth to what’s been said.”
“The window was broken in and it was strange the cops were standing there practically from the moment it all took place. So, you’re going to have to explain that to your audience, including me.”
Law enforcement officials have been quite clear about the facts of the case. Police reports and FBI documents refute several claims pushed by conservatives about the attack, including that Paul Pelosi had a relationship with the intruder and that there was no break-in.
David DePape, 42, has been charged with an array of state and federal crimes over the attack, including assault, attempted murder and attempted kidnapping. He pleaded not guilty in his first court appearance on Tuesday.
Paul Pelosi sustained serious injuries, including a skull fracture, and is still in recovery after undergoing surgery.
Police said they arrived on the scene minutes after a 911 call from Paul Pelosi and encountered him struggling with the assailant over a hammer. DePape allegedly gained control of the hammer and swung it, striking Pelosi in the head. Police then restrained the attacker. They found rope, tape, gloves and zip ties in his possession and observed a broken glass door to the back porch.
Conservatives have also been up in arms over accusations that inflammatory right-wing rhetoric emboldened and incited the attacker to carry out the attack. Some have sought to instead cast the story as a left-wing conspiracy to demonize Republicans.
On Fox News, primetime hosts have repeatedly raised questions about the attack that were already answered by the Justice Department’s charging documents.
Others, like Donald Trump Jr., have openly mocked or joked about the attack.
During conversations with law enforcement, DePape himself essentially debunked some of the conspiracy theories, according to charging documents. He told police he wanted to hold Nancy Pelosi hostage and “break her kneecaps,” and that he viewed the speaker “as the ‘leader of the pack’ of lies told by the Democratic Party.”
Trump previously said the attack on Pelosi was “a terrible thing,” but then used it as a reason to criticize crime rates in Democrat-led cities like San Francisco.