A veteran GOP tactician said Tuesday some Republicans bear “original sin” for the attack on Paul Pelosi, the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). (Watch the video below.)
Doug Heye, the former Republican National Committee communications director, said a “dotted line” could be drawn from heightened GOP rhetoric and hate speech targeting Pelosi to what transpired at her home.
“I think we have original sin here,” Heye said, echoing a phrase he used in a Washington Post essay this week. “Part of that is our language towards Barack Obama, Michelle Obama for that matter as well, and the questioning of citizenship and religion, and so forth. And then also, obviously, with Donald Trump in what ultimately culminated in Jan. 6. I think Republicans should be more mindful of that.”
Paul Pelosi suffered a fractured skull when a home invader demanding “Where is Nancy?” hit him with a hammer. The suspect told law enforcement he intended to take Nancy Pelosi hostage for “lies told by the Democratic Party” and break her kneecaps. He also planned attacks against other politicians, police said he told them.
Threats against lawmakers have spiked since the Capitol insurrection, The Associated Press reported.
MSNBC host Alex Wagner asked Heye if Nancy Pelosi, as a wealthy San Francisco liberal woman, is a target for animosity beyond her politics.
“I think some of it does,” Heye answered.
Heye recalled a shift in GOP attitude about political violence. When then-Arizona Rep. Gabby Giffords, a Democrat, was seriously wounded in a 2011 mass shooting, he said he and others tried to ensure that Republican officials said nothing “inflammatory” or “stupid.”
But years later, attacks like the one on Paul Pelosi have become “a punchline for some Republicans or some of the so-called conservative pundits who dabble in selling vitamin supplements on TV,” Heye said. “And the ‘My Pillowization’ of the Republican Party and so forth. That’s unfortunate and that’s why I hope more Republicans will speak up.”
Wagner brought up RNC Chair Ronna McDaniels’ assertion that Republican cries of “Fire Pelosi” and “Take back the House” are not a call to violence.
Heye partially agreed, saying there’s no “direct line from what one politician says and the act of a crazy person.”
“It’s not a straight line. It might be a dotted line. It may be a broken line,” he added.
“I’m scared of what’s going to happen next, just as I’m scared of what’s happened before,” Heye added.
H/T Mediaite