Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin privately sent a handwritten note to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) apologizing for treating a violent attack on her husband as a political punchline, a Pelosi spokesperson tells HuffPost.
“The apology has been accepted,” her spokesperson said Tuesday.
In a statement provided to HuffPost, Youngkin said he messed up.
“My full intention on my comments was to categorically state that violence and the kind of violence that was perpetrated against Speaker Pelosi’s husband is not just unacceptable, it’s atrocious. And I didn’t do a great job with that,” said the governor. “And so listen, it was a personal note and it was one between me and the speaker, just to reflect those sentiments.”
Late last month, a person broke into Pelosi’s San Francisco home in the middle of the night and attacked Paul Pelosi with a hammer, fracturing his skull and seriously injuring his hands and right arm. The suspect in the attack, 42-year-old David DePape, has been charged with a list of crimes, including assault, attempted murder and attempted kidnapping of a U.S. official.
DePape, who allegedly took rope and zip ties to the Pelosi home, later said that his plan was to take the House speaker hostage and possibly break her kneecaps because he saw her as the “‘leader of the pack’ of lies told by the Democratic Party,” according to police.
Hours after the incident, Youngkin used it as a political attack on Pelosi while at a campaign event for Virginia House GOP candidate Yesli Vega, who ultimately lost Tuesday’s election.
“Speaker Pelosi’s husband, they had a break-in last night in their house, he was assaulted. There’s no room for violence anywhere, but we’re going to send her back to be with him in California,” Youngkin said as the crowd cheered. “That’s what we’re going to go do.”
The Republican governor was promptly criticized by Democrats and accused of making “disgusting, vile, and crass” comments. Some called on Youngkin to immediately apologize, which he did not do.
He later acknowledged his comments were inappropriate but still stopped short of a public apology.
“At the end of the day, I really wanted to express the fact that what happened to Speaker Pelosi’s husband was atrocious,” Youngkin told a Punchbowl News reporter on Nov. 1. “And I didn’t do a great job.”
It’s not clear when Pelosi received Youngkin’s letter, but her spokesperson said it was postmarked Nov. 1. That means it was sent four days after the attack in the speaker’s home ― and four days after Youngkin’s flippant remarks about it.