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Kamala Harris has been accused of hypocrisy after she demanded people ‘speak out against hate’ following the attack on Paul Pelosi – while she has still failed to condemn the attempted murder of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Harris, campaigning in Philadelphia on Friday ahead of the midterms, said the attack in the early hours on the Pelosi’s San Francisco home was ‘tragic’ and ‘extreme violence’.
Harris called for an end to ‘hate and division’, adding, ‘I strongly believe that we all, each one of us, have to speak out against hate, we have to speak out against violence, obviously, and speak to our better selves.’
Critics pointed out that Harris and President Biden failed to speak out against hate when Kavanaugh’s life was threatened in June by a 26-year-old Californian, who travelled across the country intent on killing him. Kavanaugh was targeted for his support for the repeal of Roe v. Wade.
On Friday, however, Harris took the moral high ground.
President Joe Biden with Vice President Kamala Harris at the Pennsylvania Democratic Party’s 3rd Annual Independence Dinner in Philadelphia, Friday, Oct. 28, 2022
Pelosi was taken into brain surgery after the attack but is expected to make a full recovery, while DePape is set to be charged with multiple felonies including attempted homicide. He is pictured with Nancy at the Time 100 Gala in 2019
Biden has also spoken out against the attack on Paul Pelosi, saying it was ‘despicable’ and condemning the ‘political violence,’ but has yet to directly condemn Kavanaugh’s attacker months after the fact.
Kavanaugh’s attacker, Nicholas John Roske, 26, of Simi Valley, California, was arrested on June 8 armed with a gun, knife and burglary tools after he phoned his sister, who encouraged him to call 911 and hand himself over.
At a press conference soon after the attempted attack, the president refused to condemn it – leaving it to the White House spokesman to issue a condemnation.
Biden ‘condemns the actions if this individual in the strongest terms,’ Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in June.
Kayleigh McEnany, former president Trump’s White House Press Secretary, noted the president’s ‘ample opportunity’ to condemn the violent act at the time on Fox News.
‘He walked out on the South Lawn; the press is right there – and often times you want to get a message out you stop and say something,’ she said, noting four other times the president could have made a comment in the immediate after math.
‘We get silence from Joe and Kamala,’ McEnany concluded.
On Friday, however, Biden told the Philadelphia crowd directly, ‘there’s too much violence — political violence. Too much hatred, too much vitriol.
‘And what makes us think that one party can talk about stolen elections, covid being a hoax … all a bunch of lies, and not affect people who may not be so well balanced?
‘The same chant [that] was used by this guy they have in custody was used on January 6 in the attacks on the U.S. Capitol,’ Biden said.
Nicholas John Roske, 26, (left) was arrested in June for allegedly trying to kill Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh (right). Harris failed to condemn the attack
Despite failing to condemn the attack on Kavanaugh months prior, Biden on Friday – days after an attack on Paul Pelosi that ‘there’s too much violence — political violence. Too much hatred, too much vitriol’
Harris said she spoke with ‘Speaker Pelosi this morning’ on Friday.
‘And, I mean, this was an act of extreme violence. And I think we’re looking at a time in our country where there is so much discourse that is fueled by hate and division.
‘And anyone who professes to be a leader, I think, has to really understand the meaning and the impact of their words and their posture on these things.’
Paul Pelosi, 82, underwent surgery on Friday after he was attacked with a hammer by an intruder in the early hours of Friday morning, suffering a fractured skull.
His wife, also 82, was in Washington DC at the time.
The attacker, David DePape, 42, shouted: ‘Where is Nancy?’ as he smashed into their house. He has been arrested and will be charged with attempted homicide.
Nancy Pelosi has represented the San Francisco constituency since 1987: Harris was the San Francisco district attorney from 2004-11.
Harris said on Friday, ‘I pray for Paul’s recovery. I know the Pelosis, and this is tragic.
‘Somebody literally broke into their home, saying, ‘Where’s Nancy?’
‘And I strongly believe that we all, each one of us, have to speak out against hate, we have to speak out against violence, obviously, and speak to our better selves.
‘There is absolutely room, and it is important to have public discourse when there are disagreements about policy. But what we’ve been seeing recently is so base, in terms of reducing it down to something that I think is beneath the dignity and the intelligence of the American people.’
Police tape is seen in front of the San Francisco home of Speaker Nancy Pelosi
David DePape, 42, was identified as the man who attacked Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul with a hammer at their San Francisco home in the early hours of Friday morning
Police stand guard as abortion rights activists protest near the house of US Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh in Chevy Chase, Maryland
Kavanaugh and his wife are the parents of two young daughters. They all reside in the home that was apparently targeted by the suspect
Protesters returned to Kavanaugh’s Maryland home just hours after Roske was arrested while carrying a disturbing arsenal of weapons and equipment
In 911 calls, Roske (left and right) allegedly told operators that he was upset about the leak of a recent Supreme Court draft decision regarding the right to abortion as well as the recent school shooting in Uvalde, Texas. He is pictured left and right in older photos
On June 22 he pleaded not guilty to an attempt to assassinate the Supreme Court justice, and is currently in custody pending trial.
On Wednesday his attorneys said Roske was fit to stand trial, and a timetable will likely be set out before Christmas.
Barack Obama, pictured on Friday campaigning in Georgia, also spoke out against the attack on Paul Pelosi
Pro-Trump rioters who broke into the U.S. Capitol on January 6 chanted the speaker’s name as they looked for her in the building.
Biden said Paul Pelosi ‘seems to be coming along well’ and is expected to recover.
Barack Obama, also on the campaign trail, in Georgia, condemned the attack on Paul Pelosi.
‘I want to take a moment to say a prayer for a friend of mine, Mr Paul Pelosi, who was attacked,’ said Obama, speaking at a rally in Atlanta.
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