In the early hours of Sunday morning, as Leah covered, Paul Pelosi, who is married to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) was reportedly arrested for a DUI and was released on bail set at $5,000. Given that Nancy Pelosi is a public figure, the news generated strong reactions. Newsweek's Jason Lemon not only noticed such reactions, he had a rather particular angle with it, which is to say that reminders not to drink and drive and taking issue with the privilege Paul Pelosi enjoyed.
"Save a life, call an Uber @SpeakerPelosi," GOP Representative Lauren Boebert tweeted Sunday. https://t.co/bGAwOI1CF6
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) May 29, 2022
Lemon highlighted several tweets from conservatives, including from Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), which Newsweek highlighted in their own tweet. His headline referred to them as "MAGA Republicans."
"Quickly, a number of right-wing commentators and politicians responded to the news by attacking Pelosi, while also criticizing her and her husband," Lemon wrote in his piece.
The Biden administration has been desperately trying to make such a smear catch on, which took them six months of focus groups to come up with. It appears to have caught on with members of the mainstream media, though they're already on Biden's side to begin with. Further, Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, have used the term to their advantage.
This Memorial Day weekend, remember not to drink and drive.
— Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) May 29, 2022
Save a life, call an Uber.@SpeakerPelosi
How much time in jail will Paul Pelosi spend?
— Brigitte Gabriel (@ACTBrigitte) May 29, 2022
He endangered so many lives by his reckless behavior.
If his last name was Trump the media would make this the number 1 story.
Other highlighted tweets had even more choice words for Paul and Nancy Pelosi.
Paul Pelosi is a thug.
— Nick Adams (@NickAdamsinUSA) May 29, 2022
Can’t really blame himhttps://t.co/dzMJqhlrpX
— Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) May 29, 2022
BREAKING: Nancy Pelosi's husband, Paul Pelosi, was arrested this weekend for DUI.
— James P. Bradley For US Senate CA (@JamesBradleyCA) May 29, 2022
We don’t know if Nancy was in the car, but from what I’ve heard about her I’m guessing SHE was the drunk one driving and he just took the fall.
Paul Pelosi didn’t drink a thing he just gave his wife a hug and caught a contact DUI.
— Errol Webber (@ErrolWebber) May 29, 2022
Paul Pelosi was just arrested for a DUI.
— Danny Tarkanian (@DannyTarkanian) May 29, 2022
Frankly, if you were Nancy Pelosi’s husband you’d be drunk all day, too.
By making it about how Republicans are reacting to Paul Pelosi being arrested for a crime that could have very well endangered himself or others, or even killed someone, highlights the priorities of the mainstream media.
Further, Paul Pelosi is full of wealth privilege. While it means he's likely to have his attorney step in to save him on this, it also meant he could easily afford a private driver, or, at the very least, as Rep. Boebert suggested, call an Uber.
Speaking of Pelosi's attorney, Jake Thomas, also writing for Newsweek, wrote an article with the headline declaring "Attorney for Nancy Pelosi's Husband Wants to Set the Record Straight on DUI."
"Mr. Pelosi was fully cooperative with California Highway Patrol officers who arrived a few minutes later," the statement from an unnamed attorney read. "A prior driving offense erroneously attributed to Mr. Pelosi is untrue and likely refers to another person with the same name."
As of Tuesday afternoon, "Paul Pelosi" is still trending over Twitter.