Fox News Host Suggests Releasing Pelosi Suspect, Says Hammer Attacks Common

Fox News host Jesse Watters has suggested that the man suspected of fracturing the skull of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband should be released from jail because "people get hit with hammers all the time."

The Democratic leader's husband, Paul Pelosi, was attacked with a hammer following a break-in at the couple's San Francisco home early on Friday morning. Suspected attacker David Depape, 42, reportedly had a history of promoting right-wing conspiracy theories online and shouted "Where is Nancy" before carrying out the attack.

Paul Pelosi was rushed to a local hospital and underwent emergency surgery to repair the skull fracture and additional injuries to his arm and hands. Doctors said that the 82-year-old was expected to make a full recovery. Depape was arrested and is facing multiple felony charges including attempted murder.

Watters spoke about the attack during the Friday edition of The Five. The conservative pundit suggested that hammer attacks are a common occurrence, blasted Democrats for supposedly being soft on crime and decried what he characterized as the unfair "special" treatment that Depape was receiving by remaining in custody and facing serious criminal charges.

"I want this alleged perpetrator to be treated the exact same way [as] if he had...attacked anybody else," said Watters. "Because a lot of people get hit with hammers. A lot of people get attacked. And a lot of the times, they're out on bail the next day and it's a simple assault charge. So I don't know why this guy is being treated differently."

"We see people assaulted all the time randomly, with all kinds of weapons, and we see them released the next day," he continued. "So I don't why this guy is getting—all of a sudden—special treatment, or different treatment because the victim was so high profile."

Watters went on to say that "the left" had wanted a "social worker" to handle violent incidents like the one at the Pelosi residence, before praising the police for responding to the attack "right away." He also said that "the Democrats defunded the police in San Francisco," which he called a "big mistake."

While Watters compared the attack to assaults that occur "randomly," the suspect's demand to learn the whereabouts of the House speaker during the incident on Friday suggests that the attack was anything but random.

Nancy Pelosi was not in California at the time. Her spokesperson said that she was "thankful for the outpouring of support and prayers from friends, constituents and people around the country" in a statement released following the attack.

Some online commentators later denounced Watters for his response to the attack, while suggesting that his rhetoric may have helped contribute to the violence.

"These people are monsters," tweeted journalist Aaron Rupar alongside a clip of Watters making the remarks.

"Jesse Watters says 'a lotta people get hit by hammers,'" writer Nina Burleigh tweeted. "Nice work giving this fascist a platform, Murdochs."

"Stochastic terrorists Jesse Watters and Tucker Carlson were directly responsible for this," tweeted user @RafDiddy. "They knowingly contributed to the root cause of this, and other serious crimes. They must be named, and their actions must be named. Enough."

Watters was not the only conservative to face backlash for questionable comments on the Pelosi attack.

Republican Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin was blasted after boasting that Republicans were looking forward to sending Nancy Pelosi "back to be with" her injured husband in California during a GOP campaign event on Friday.

Newsweek reached out to Fox News for comment.