Donald Trump.Photo: Brandon Bell/Getty
Former PresidentDonald Trumphas joined the chorus of right-wing personalities flirting with conspiracy theories in an effort to downplay the recent violent attack ofPaul Pelosiin his San Francisco home.
On Tuesday, Trump, 76, made a number of false claims to radio host Chris Stigall, saying there were “weird things going on in that household in the last couple of weeks.”
Trump went on to falsely claim that, “The glass it seems was broken from the inside to the out so it wasn’t a break in, it was a break out.” (Not a single law enforcement official has supported this theory.)
The former president then hedged his remarks with, “I don’t know, you hear the same things I do,” before continuing with more unfounded claims.
“It’s a lot of bad stuff and I’m not a fan of Nancy Pelosi, but what’s going on there is very sad,” Trump said. “The whole thing is crazy, and if there’s even a little bit of truth to what’s being said. The window was broken in and it was strange the cops were standing there practically from the moment it all took place. So, you’re going to have to explain that to your audience, including me.”
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U.S. Capitol Police revealed that Nancy was in Washington, D.C. at the time of the overnight assault, in which the alleged intruder, 42-year-oldDavid Wayne DePape, “confronted the speaker’s husband” and shouted, “Where is Nancy, where is Nancy?” per CNN sources. He then attempted to tie Paul up “until Nancy got home,” and was still “waiting for Nancy” when police arrived, sources said.
The notion that police were on site when the incident took place is misleading — officials witnessed, and quickly put an end to, the hammer attack, but the intruder had already been inside Paul’s home when they arrived. They were tipped off to the break-in when Paul slipped into the bathroom to make a 911 call.
The suspect has been federally charged with one count of assault of an immediate family member of a United States official and one count of attempted kidnapping of a United States official. He faces several additional felony charges in San Francisco, whichhe pleaded not guilty toon Tuesday.
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The suspect’s online behavior show a man whoembraced right-wing conspiraciesand anti-Semitic tropes. And according to charging documents, the suspect said — in a Mirandized and recorded interview after being detained — that he planned to tie Paul up and wait for Nancy, and would then question the House speaker before breaking “her kneecaps” if she lied to him.
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Trump’s espousing of false claims is nothing new. He has, for the past two years, insisted he won an election that he lost (a lie that the suspect in the Pelosi case has repeatedlyendorsedonline).
Trump also tweeted at the time that Carroll was “totally lying” about the rape, and claimed she made up the allegation in order to help sell her memoir.
source: people.com
