NORFOLK, Va.— Gov. Glenn Youngkin is drawing some heavy criticism after his comments regarding the attack on Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul.
Paul Pelosi was attacked with a hammer inside the couple's San Francisco home earlier this week. An intruder broke in shouting "Where is Nancy?" and struck Paul several times.
Some people told News 3 reporter Kelsey Jones the attack, amid an overall rise of threats against Congress, has them feeling uneasy.
But at a GOP campaign event Friday, Gov. Youngkin made remarks about the attack. The governor criticized it, but it didn't stop there.
"Listen, Speaker Pelosi's husband had a break-in last night in their house, and he was assaulted," Gov. Youngkin said. "There's no room for violence anywhere, but we're gonna send her back to be with him in California. That's what we're going to go do."
Some people called Youngkin's remarks hurtful.
"It was a stupid remark because Mr. Pelosi is an old man, and he could've died with just one blow to the head with the hammer that this guy had," said California native Fidel Olvera, who was visiting family in Norfolk.
Randy Quinones, who was visiting Norfolk from New Jersey, told News 3 he's not phased by the remarks.
"I really don't follow politics because I think a lot of better things and choices should be made. Whatever he does he does," Quinones said.
A spokesperson for Youngkin sent the following statement to News 3: "As the Governor clearly said, the assault on Paul Pelosi was wrong and there is no place for violence. He wishes him a full recovery and is keeping the Pelosi family in his prayers."
News 3's Kelsey Jones asked whether the governor would be clarifying the final portion of the statement, but they did not provide further comment.
News 3 political analyst Dr. Eric Claville weighed in on the political climate, with the election less than 2 weeks away.
"I believe the Governor's office will evaluate the statement and make a clear, conscious, and best decision on behalf of the Governor in due time," said Dr. Eric Claville.
Claville believes political rhetoric in general will go to great heights.
"You're going to see a lot of political ads, unfortunately, a lot of attack ads but that's a part of the political process in our current day," he said. "You're going to see a lot of that in the next week or so," said Claville.
On Friday, Virginia Second District Congresswoman Elaine Luria (D) condemned the attack.
"As a 20-year Navy veteran, I cannot think of anything more un-American than resorting to violence to further one's political agenda," the congresswoman said. "Any attempt to diminish or make light of the attack on Paul Pelosi should be condemned in the strongest possible terms."
Politicians from both parties expressed outrage about the assault.
"There's clearly no room for violence in politics. Attacks like these, regardless of who does them or what their motives might be, should be dealt with in the harshest manner possible to send that message loud and clear," said Newport News Republican Party member Cliff Dunn. "I wish we could focus on doing that without devolving into trying to score points off of how somebody says that."
News 3 did reach asked Republican State Senator Jen Kiggans' team for any comment on Youngkin's remarks, but as of Sunday, they haven't responded.
