Musk plays up conspiracy claims over Pelosi attack

The new owner of Twitter amplified claims about Paul Pelosi as alternative theories swirled on the platform he bought for $44bn.

David Charter

2 min read

11:00AMOctober 31, 2022.

Updated 5:31PMOctober 31, 2022

New Twitter owner Elon Musk. Picture: AFP

Elon Musk has fuelled right-wing conspiracy theories about the attack on Paul Pelosi, in which the House Speaker’s husband was left with a fractured skull.

Musk, the new owner of Twitter, amplified claims about Pelosi as alternative theories swirled on the platform he bought for $US44bn on Friday. The world’s richest man pledged to bring free speech back to the site, tweeting “the bird is freed”, referring to its logo.

Musk was responding to a tweet from Hillary Clinton, the former Democratic presidential candidate, who said: “The Republican Party and its mouthpieces now regularly spread hate and deranged conspiracy theories. It is shocking, but not surprising, that violence is the result.”

US Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi and husband Paul. Picture: AFP

In his reposting of a link to an article about Paul Pelosi’s alleged behaviour, published on a little known website, Musk said: “There is a tiny possibility there might be more to this story than meets the eye.” The tweet was deleted later.

Paul Pelosi, 82, tussled over a hammer with a man who was said to have broken into his home in San Francisco in the early hours of Friday.

David DePape, 42, was arrested at the scene. CNN and AP said a source claimed that the suspect had zip ties with him, an echo of the riot at the US Capitol on January 6 last year, when two rioters were photographed with zip ties.

Nancy Pelosi, his wife, said she and her family were “heartbroken” by the attack. Her husband also has injuries to his arm and hand but is expected to make a full recovery.

David DePape, seen in Berkeley, California, in a 2013 photo, is set to be arraigned on Tuesday in connection with the attack on Paul Pelosi.

“Our children, our grandchildren and I are heartbroken and traumatised by the life-threatening attack on our Pop,” Pelosi, also 82, said in a letter posted to Twitter. “We are grateful for the response of law enforcement and emergency services, and for the lifesaving care he is receiving.”

Social media postings attributed to DePape reveal a recent interest in right-wing conspiracy theories about Covid-19 and the 2020 presidential election. His older postings concerned interests including nudist activism. His personal blog includes posts on “Manipulation of History”, “Holohoax” and “It’s OK to be white”.

Suspect named following attack on US Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul

President Biden said on Saturday that he had spoken to the Pelosis and that Paul “seems to be doing a lot better”.

Biden added: “It looks like he’s going to recover fully … but also, don’t know for certain, but it looks like this was intended for Nancy. He [DePape] kept asking ‘Where’s Nancy? Where’s Nancy?’ The generic point I want to make is that, you know, it’s one thing to condemn the violence. But you can’t condemn the violence unless you condemn those people who continue to argue the election was not real, that it’s being stolen, all the malarkey that’s being put out there to undermine democracy.”