Glenn Youngkin writes personal note of apology to Nancy Pelosi for remarks about attack against her husband
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin disclosed Wednesday that he has apologized to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi via a personal note for his widely-derided remarks in the wake of the violent attack on her 82-year-old husband, Paul Pelosi, in the couple's San Francisco home last month.
Youngkin initially made the remarks at a campaign stop for Yesli Vega — the Republican candidate for Virginia's 7th Congressional District — on the same day of the attack.
"Speaker Pelosi's husband, they had a break-in last night in their house, he was assaulted," Youngkin told the crowd during the Oct. 28 rally. "There's no room for violence anywhere, but we're going to send her back to be with him in California. That's what we're going to go do."
Youngkin confirmed he sent a "personal note" to the House speaker, but did not elaborate on its contents.
"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," the governor said in a statement to CBS News Wednesday. "And I didn't do a great job with that. And so listen, it was a personal note and it was one between me and the speaker, just to reflect those sentiments."
In the early morning hours of Oct. 28, Paul Pelosi was assaulted by a suspect who broke into the couple's home and said he was looking for the House speaker, San Francisco police said. Officers who responded to a 911 call from Mr. Pelosi witnessed the suspect attack him with a hammer, police said.
Nancy Pelosi was in Washington, D.C., at the time of the home invasion, according to Capitol Police. Her husband underwent surgery for a skull fracture and is now recovering.
The suspect, 42-year-old David Wanye DePape, was arrested at the scene and later charged with attempted murder, residential burglary, assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, false imprisonment of an elder, and threats to a public official and their family.
He was also charged with federal counts of assault on the immediate family member of a federal official, and attempted kidnapping of a federal official.