White House says Biden is ‘praying’ for Paul Pelosi and condemns ‘all violence’ after attack

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre says Mr Biden ‘is praying for Paul Pelosi and for Speaker Pelosi’s whole family’

President Joe Biden has spoken to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in the wake of a violent home invasion and attack on her husband at her San Francisco residence, the White House has said.

In a statement, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Mr Biden “is praying for Paul Pelosi and for Speaker Pelosi’s whole family”.

Ms Jean-Pierre said Mr Biden telephoned Ms Pelosi on Friday morning “to express his support after this horrible attack”. She added that Mr Biden is “very glad” that Mr Pelosi is expected to make a full recovery, and said Mr Biden “continues to condemn all violence, and asks that the family’s desire for privacy be respected”.

According to San Francisco Police Department spokesperson Sergeant Adam Lobsinger, police officers responded to Ms Pelosi’s home for a break-in at 2.27 am PT and arrested a suspect who allegedly attacked Mr Pelosi, reportedly by using a hammer to inflict blunt force injuries on the 82-year-old stockbroker.

A spokesperson for Ms Pelosi, Drew Hammill, said Mr Pelosi’s assailant “broke into the Pelosi residence in San Francisco and violently assaulted” the Speaker’s husband. Ms Pelosi was not home at the time, he said.

“Mr Pelosi was taken to the hospital, where he is receiving excellent medical care and is expected to make a full recovery,” he said. “The Speaker and her family are grateful to the first responders and medical professionals involved, and request privacy at this time”.

In a statement, the US Capitol Police said special agents with the department’s California field office are assisting the Federal Bureau of Investigation and San Francisco Police Department with a “joint investigation” into the break-in, including the alleged assailant’s motivations.

“Special Agents with the USCP’s California Field Office quickly arrived on scene, while a team of investigators from the Department’s Threat Assessment Section was simultaneously dispatched from the East Coast to assist the FBI and the San Francisco Police with a joint investigation,” a department spokesperson said in a statement.

The spokesperson added that investigators “will provide more information when it can be released”.