Charlie Kirk once called for ‘patriot’ to bail out Paul Pelosi assailant David DePape

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — Slain right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk once used his platform to call for a “patriot” to bail out the man who broke into Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi’s house in San Francisco and attacked her husband with a hammer. Kirk, who was one of the loudest, most youthful voices on the MAGA far-right, made the comments on a 2022 episode of his podcast, “The Charlie Kirk Show.”

In the segment, Kirk disparaged the notion that Republican rhetoric at the time was in any way responsible for the attack on Paul Pelosi. He also invoked a debunked conspiracy theory that the attack was the result of an illicit gay sexual tryst that somehow went awry.

“Why is the Republican Party, why is the conservative movement to blame for gay, schizophrenic nudists that are hemp jewelry-makers breaking into somebody’s home, or maybe not breaking into somebody’s home,” Kirk said in the segment. “Why are we to blame for that exactly?”

He then went on to call for someone to bail out Pelosi’s attacker, David DePape.

“And why is he still in jail? Why has he not been bailed out? By the way, if some amazing patriot out there in San Francisco or the Bay Area wants to be a midterm hero, someone should go and bail this guy out… Bail him out and then go ask him some questions.”

DePape, who was 42 at the time of the attack, broke into the Pelosi home on Oct. 28, 2022, and bludgeoned the then-speaker’s husband with a hammer, fracturing his skull. During his subsequent trial, prosecutors said DePape was motivated by right-wing conspiracy theories.

In trial testimony, he stated that he broke into the home intending to hold Nancy Pelosi hostage and interrogate her on video. The judge in the case sentenced DePape to 50 years in prison for attempted kidnapping of a federal official and assault on a family member of a federal official.

Following his initial arrest, DePape was held without bail.