On Wednesday, The Daily Beast reported that Rep. Claudia Tenney (R-NY) took down a tweet laughing at the violent attack on the husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) at their San Francisco home.
"'LOL,' the congresswoman wrote on Friday while boosting a heavily photoshopped right-wing meme showing men with hammers standing in front of the alleged assailant’s Berkeley home," said the report. "The tweet remained online for several days and, according to journalist Aaron Rupar, the GOP lawmaker turned off her Twitter replies after users called out the mocking tweet. By midday Tuesday, Tenney appeared to have altogether deleted the post without explanation, Rupar later noted."
The attacker, David DePape, allegedly forced his way into the Pelosis' home, planning to take the speaker hostage and "break her kneecaps" if she wouldn't confess to various things he believed. He told police he was on a "suicide mission."
He now faces federal charges for the assault on a government official's family, with a number of state charges filed as well.
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Tenney, a fervent supporter of former President Donald Trump, was unseated in the 2018 election but narrowly regained her seat in 2020. She has also come under controversy for allegedly spending thousands of dollars in campaign funds at businesses she owns or operates.
She is not alone in mocking the act of political violence against Pelosi's family. Immediately after the incident, Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) told a crowd of supporters that the GOP would soon "send her back to be with him in California."