The attack on Paul Pelosi should be a moment of national reckoning | Jill Filipovic

All political violence is a problem, but in terms of sheer numbers, rightwing extremism is a much more significant problem than leftwing radicalism

Much of American life has gotten coarser, uglier and crueler in the years since Donald Trump won the presidency in 2016. Even with Trump out of office, his legacy persists, and it erodes American life every day.

On Friday, in a grisly act of political violence, a man broke into the home of the speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, one of the US right's most vilified political figures, and attacked her husband with a hammer, fracturing his skull and leaving him with serious injuries. The attacker, 42-year-old David DePape, was reportedly carrying zip ties and duct tape and yelling: Where's Nancy?"

Jill Filipovic is the author of OK Boomer, Let's Talk