Nancy Pelosi said she and her family were “heartbroken and traumatised” following the attack on her husband in their San Francisco home.
Paul Pelosi, 82, was attacked with a hammer on Friday by an intruder who shouted “Where is Nancy?" and declared his intention to wait for Ms Pelosi’s return, sources briefed on the attack told the Washington Post.
The House Speaker, who is second in the constitutional line of succession to the US presidency, was in Washington DC at the time of the assault.
Police arrived at the scene and arrested 42-year-old David DePape as he was attacking Mr Pelosi with a hammer.
“Yesterday morning, a violent man broke into our family home, demanded to confront me and brutally attacked my husband Paul. Our children, our grandchildren and I are heartbroken and traumatized by the life-threatening attack on our Pop,” Ms Pelosi said in a statement released on Saturday evening.
“Please know that the outpouring of prayers and warm wishes from so many in the Congress is a comfort to our family and is helping Paul make progress with his recovery. His condition continues to improve,” Ms Pelosi added in her first public comments on the attack.
The statement continued: “We are also comforted by the words of the Book of Isaiah: ‘Do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen and help you. I will uphold you with my righteous hand.’”
Police said DePape smashed his way through a rear door of the Pelosi residence wielding a hammer shortly before 2:30 a.m. Friday. Mr Pelosi called 911 himself and when police arrived they found him struggling with the assailant. The man managed to strike Mr Pelosi at least once with the hammer before he was tackled by officers and arrested, police said.
“Our officers immediately tackled the suspect, disarmed him, took him into custody, requested emergency back-up, and rendered medical aid,” San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott said.
Mr Pelosi underwent successful surgery to repair a skull fracture and serious injuries to his right arm and hands sustained in the attack, Ms Pelosi’s spokesman Drew Hammill said on Friday.
DePape, a resident of Berkeley, California, was charged with attempted homicide, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, burglary and “several other additional felonies,” according to the San Francisco Police Department.
The 42-year-old appeared to be immersed in a toxic online culture of far-right conspiracy theories, and had published a subscription-based blog where he expressed a range of transphobic, antisemitic and racist views, according to posts reviewed by The Independent. He also posted about conspiracy theories tied to Covid-19 and QAnon, among others.
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