Cal. Gov. Newsom Blames Fox News for Hammer Attack on Pelosi’s Husband

California’s Democrat  Gov. Gavin Newsom is at least partly blaming Fox News for promoting vitriol against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her husband, Paul, who at the end of last week was attacked by an intruder with a hammer and suffered a serious head injury at the couple’s home in San Francisco.

“I’ve seen the dehumanization of Nancy Pelosi,” Newsom told CBS News’ chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett in an interview last Saturday. “I don’t think anyone’s been dehumanized like she has consistently. Now I watched this one guy, Jesse Watters or something on Fox News. What he’s been saying about Paul Pelosi the last five, six months, mocking him consistently. Don’t tell me that’s not aiding and abetting all this. Of course it is.

Added the governor: “They’re sowing the seeds, creating a culture and a climate like this…I mean, look online. Look at the sewage that is online that they amplify on these networks and in social media to dehumanize people like Nancy Pelosi and other political leaders.”

David Wayne DePape, the suspect in the attack, was carrying a list of people besides Speaker Pelosi he wanted to target, law enforcement sources familiar with the investigation confirmed to CBS News. He allegedly broke into the couple’s home around 2 a.m. on Friday, shouting “Where is Nancy?” The Democratic leader was in Washington, D.C. at the time of the attack, according to Capitol Police.

Paul Pelosi underwent surgery on Friday for his injuries. A statement from the House speaker’s office said the elderly Pelosi, aged 82, was expected to make a full recovery.

Newsom implied that he, himself, has also received threats — and that they’ve become more serious.

“I know what over the last three years has come in my inbox,” he said. “Trust me, you don’t, because I’m not sharing it. I don’t even share it with my wife. I got four kids. So I know a little bit about this. I mean, it wasn’t just a recall against me. It was surround sound in every way, shape or form.”

“Look, there’s always folks in the extreme and you roll your eyes,” he added. “This is — something is different here. There’s, you know, the mind is being stretched. People feel free to shove again.”

CNN reported with alarm the Just hours removed from the news that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband had been attacked at the couple’s San Francisco home, Gov. Glenn Youngkin was on the stump for fellow Virginia Republican Yesli Vega, who is running for a House seat, and said, “Speaker Pelosi’s husband had a break-in last night in their house, and he was assaulted. 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.”

The cable network also wasted no time in accusing former President Donald Trump of instigating the attack.

“Thanks in no small part to Donald Trump, the lines across which politicians were unwilling to go have been blurred, if not entirely eliminated,” said a story posted on the CNN website “You can get away with saying anything and everything about the other political party because, well, they are viewed now as not just misguided, but purposely doing things that will decimate America.”