Nancy Pelosi Details Heartbreaking Moment She Found Out Her Husband Paul Had Been Attacked

Nancy Pelosi recalled the moment she found out her husband had been attacked by an assailant in their San Francisco home.

Armed with twist ties, rope, tape and the hammer reportedly used to break through the home's sliding glass door, a suspect — whom authorities later identified as David DePape — allegedly tried restraining the House speaker's husband, Paul Pelosi, so that they could wait for Nancy to return. However, Paul escaped to the bathroom with a phone to dial 911.

In an interview on CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 that aired Monday, Nancy, 82, revealed how she found out about the incident.

"I was sleeping in Washington, D.C. I had just gotten in the night before from San Francisco," Nancy told host Anderson Cooper in her first sit-down interview since the attack.

Taking a pause, she then shared, "And the — I hear the doorbell ring, and it's 5-something... [I think] it must be the wrong apartment. It rings again, and then bang, bang, bang, bang on the door. So I run to the door. And I'm very [scared]."

RELATED: Nancy Pelosi Says Husband Paul Has a 'Long Recovery Ahead' After 'Horrific Attack

Paul Morigi/Getty

She said she saw Capitol Police outside of her door, and they told her they needed to speak with her.

"I'm thinking my children, my grandchildren," she said. "I never thought it would be Paul because I knew he wouldn't be out and about."

She continued, "They came in, at that time we didn't even know where he was or what his condition was. We just knew there was an assault on him in our home, and now they were taking him to a hospital, which turned out to be [Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital]. ... It wasn't the closest but it was the right place to go for that."

She was later told that the assailant hit Paul, 82, in the head twice with the hammer. "That's pretty awful," she said.

As Nancy rushed to the hospital to see him, Paul was already out of surgery. According to her son Paul Pelosi Jr., her husband said, "Oh, your mother's going to be very happy because the Ravens won last night."

RELATED: Nancy Pelosi Says She Is 'Heartbroken and Traumatized' After Husband Paul Was Attacked in Their Home

cnn

"[We have a] Baltimore connection," Nancy said, adding that her husband's comment reassured her that he would be okay.

Police reported that the assailant said he planned on attacking Nancy; however, she was not home.

"For me, this is really the hard part because Paul was not the target, and he's the one who's paying the price," she told Cooper. "It's really sad because it is a flame that was fueled by misinformation and all of the rest of that, which is most unfortunate and has no place in our democracy."

Reacting to President Joe Biden comparing the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol — when rioters were searching for Nancy — to the attack inside of her home, Nancy said she "absolutely" believes there's a connection.

RELATED: Biden Slams Republicans Who've Downplayed Paul Pelosi Attack: 'These Guys Are Extremely Extreme'

"There's no question. It's the same thing," she told Cooper.

She added that after the Jan. 6 attack and the incident inside of her home, the country should look towards healing. Still, she addressed the reality that history could repeat itself.

"You would think that there would be some level of responsibility, but you see what the reaction is on the other side — to make a joke of it — and really that is traumatizing, too. But nonetheless, forgetting them, there has to be some healing process," she said. "Democrats and Republicans, members of Congress, anybody can be a target."

She explained, "In our democracy, there is one party that is doubting the outcome of the election, feeding that flame and mocking any violence that happens. That has to stop."

Nancy went on to address those like former President Donald Trump and Elon Musk who have "[cast] doubt" on attacks that have occurred.

"It's really sad for the country that people of that high visibility would separate themselves from the facts and the truth in such a blatant way. It's really sad, and it is traumatizing to those affected by it. They don't care about that obviously," Nancy said. "But it's destructive to the unity that we want to have in our country."

"There has to be some adult supervision on the Republican side in order to say, 'Enough. Enough,' " she added.

After Nancy's interview aired, Trump appeared to address her comments during a Republican rally in Ohio, per multiple outlets.

Calling her "an animal," he added, "They'll say, 'What a horrible thing he said about Nancy.' She impeached me twice for nothing."

In her sit-down, Nancy concluded by thanking supporters for their prayers, which she described as "unifying."