'Spectacle of himself': Senate Republicans blast Alex Padilla after his forcible removal from DHS presser
After Democratic California Sen. Alex Padilla was forcibly removed and detained during a press event in his home state involving Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, his Republican colleagues blasted the senator for potentially breaking the law and making "a spectacle of himself" rather than doing his job.
Video of the incident showed Padilla trying to walk up to Noem while she was speaking at a podium during a press conference in Los Angeles. Padilla simultaneously attempted to shout over Noem, but law enforcement stepped in and forcefully stopped Padilla's advance.
Padilla was eventually taken to the ground and handcuffed, the video showed. Fox News reporters who were present said Padilla appeared to be detained for a period of time.
"I think [Padilla] should have been here in Washington voting," Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said of the incident when asked for a reaction. "He has a responsibility to his constituents, to show up at work, not to go try to make a spectacle of himself."
While Democrats are angerd by the way law enforcement handled the incident, Republicans like Ohio Sen. Bernie Moreno and Majority Leader John Thune have signaled they want to learn the facts of what took place. Moreno said if Padilla broke the law, it would have been right to arrest him.
"The important facts are, was he committing a crime? Right? The fact that I'm a United States senator doesn't make me immune from laws. In fact, the Democrats are the ones that like to say 'nobody's above the law,'" said Moreno, who had not seen the video at the time Fox News Digital spoke to him.
"If you walked into the Senate chamber right now and started yelling and screaming and asking questions, you couldn't say, 'Wait a second, I have a First Amendment right to do this.' It would be more than frowned upon. The Capitol Police would escort you out of the building. If you refuse to leave, they would arrest you."
Moreno added he thought it was "a little ironic" that Democrats "cheered" as federal law enforcement raided President Donald Trump's house "with almost completely no justification whatsoever" but are condemning law enforcement now that one of them is caught in the crosshairs.
However, at least one GOP senator, Alaska's Lisa Murkowski, sided with Democrats in their complaints over how Padilla was treated by law enforcement.
"It's horrible. It is shocking at every level. It's not the America I know," Murkowski said.
After the incident Thursday in Padilla's home state of California, Senate Democrats took to the front steps of the Capitol to speak out against law enforcement's treatment of Padilla. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus also marched over to House Speaker Mike Johnson's office to protest the incident.
Padilla's office responded to the incident Thursday, describing the senator's actions as "exercising his duty to perform congressional oversight of the federal government's operations in Los Angeles."
"He was in the federal building to receive a briefing with General (Gregory) Guillot and was listening to Secretary Noem's press conference," the statement from Padilla's says. "He tried to ask the secretary a question and was forcibly removed by federal agents, forced to the ground and handcuffed."
The statement added Padilla was not "currently detained" and that his team was working to get additional information.
But the White House fired back in a statement to Fox News, shifting criticism to Padilla for disrupting the press conference.
"Padilla stormed a press conference without wearing his Senate pin or previously identifying himself to security, yelled and lunged toward Secretary Noem," White House deputy press secretary Abigail Jackson said. "
Padilla didn't want answers; he wanted attention. Padilla embarrassed himself and his constituents with this immature, theater-kid stunt, but it's telling that Democrats are more riled up about Padilla than they are about the violent riots and assaults on law enforcement in LA."
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