Republican jokes about Paul Pelosi mark new low in political extremism

Rightwingers are laughing about an attack that left an 82-year-old in hospital. It’s a watershed moment in politics, writes Arwa Mahdawi

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and her husband, Paul Pelosi, who was seriously injured by an intruder. Picture: AP Photo/Kevin Wolf

What do you do when an 82-year-old man is attacked at his home with a hammer? You laugh about it, of course.

A number of members of the Republican Party – people who like to preach to others about family values and civility – seem to find the recent attack on Paul Pelosi very amusing indeed.