Latino senator claps back at JD Vance for wrongly calling him 'José'
The vice president incorrectly referred to Sen. Alex Padilla, a California Democrat, as "José Padilla" during a press conference in Los Angeles.
WASHINGTON – Sen. Alex Padilla had strong words for JD Vance after the vice president erroneously referred to the Democrat as "José."
"He knows my name," Padilla said on MSNBC's "The Weekend" on June 21. The comments, Padilla went on, were "just an indicator of how petty and unserious this administration is."
Padilla was the first Latino elected to the U.S. Senate from the state of California.
Vance, who served with Padilla in the Senate, made the remark at a press conference the previous day during a trip to Los Angeles meant to defend the Trump administration's military response to protests over changes to immigration policies.
Read more: Vance defends using military to quell protests, refers to Sen. Alex Padilla as 'José'
"I was hoping José Padilla would be here to ask a question, but unfortunately, I guess he decided not to show up because there wasn't the theater, and that's all it is," Vance said.
Read more: Sen. Alex Padilla handcuffed and forcibly removed from Kristi Noem's LA press conference
On June 12, Padilla was handcuffed and forcibly removed from a press conference being held by Kristi Noem, the Homeland Security secretary. Democrats condemned the incident and demanded an investigation. The Trump administration defended the actions of Noem's security detail that day and accused Padilla of engaging in political theater.
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Los Angeles Times
22 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Sen. Padilla claps back after JD Vance calls him ‘Jose': ‘ He knows my name'
Sen. Alex Padilla blasted the Trump administration Saturday, calling it 'petty and unserious' after Vice President JD Vance referred to him as 'Jose' during a news conference in Los Angeles the previous day. 'He knows my name,' Padilla said in an appearance on MSNBC on Saturday morning. Vance visited Los Angeles on Friday for less than five hours after several weeks of federal immigration raids in the city and surrounding areas, sparking protests and backlash from state and local officials. Padilla was thrown into the heated nationwide immigration debate when he was dragged to the ground by federal law enforcement officers and briefly detained when he attempted to ask U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem a question during a news conference earlier this month. Vance characterized the move by California's first Latino senator as 'political theater' in his remarks. 'I was hoping Jose Padilla would be here to ask a question, but unfortunately I guess he decided not to show up because there wasn't a theater, and that's all it is,' Vance said. Vance served alongside Padilla in the Senate and is now the president of the upper chamber of Congress. Vance's press secretary, Taylor Van Kirk, told Politico that the vice president misspoke and 'must have mixed up two people who have broken the law.' Padilla, in his TV interview, said he broke no laws. He suggested the misnaming was intentional — and a reflection of the administration's skewed priorities. 'He's the vice president of the United States.' Padilla said. 'You think he'd take the the situation in Los Angeles more seriously.' Padilla said Vance might instead have taken the opportunity to talk to families or employers affected by raids carried out by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Other California Democrats rallied behind Padilla after the misnaming incident. 'Calling him 'Jose Padilla' is not an accident,' California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a Friday post on the social media platform X. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass highlighted racial undertones in Vance's comments. 'I guess he just looked like anybody to you, but he's not just anybody to us,' she said during a press conference on Friday. 'He is our senator.'
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Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Senator Alex Padilla calls out JD Vance for wrongly calling him ‘José': ‘The Vice President knows my name'
Senator Alex Padilla called out Vice President JD Vance for — he claims — intentionally getting his first name wrong when he was giving comments about Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in Los Angeles. During a visit to LA on Friday to inspect President Donald Trump's domestic troop deployment, Vance called Padilla "José." 'Well, I was hoping José Padilla would be here to ask a question, but unfortunately, I guess he decided not to show up because there wasn't the theater, and that's all it is,' Vance said. He was referring to Padilla being dragged out of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's June 12 press conference, pulled to the ground and handcuffed. The senator said in a comment on X that the vice president knows his name, and called the remark a "petty slight." "The Vice President knows my name. But that's not the point," Padilla wrote. "He should be focused on removing the thousands of unnecessary troops from the streets of Los Angeles, not petty slights." He also shared a clip of a MSNBC news program he appeared on in which he said Vance should be spending his time learning more about the effects of the ICE raids and speaking with families who are being "terrorized" by the federal agents. In the clip, Padilla challenges Vance to talk to the Marines and National Guard members who he says do not want to be stationed in LA, to the city officials and the LA sheriff whose jobs, he says, have been made more difficult by the presence of the military in the city, or to fire victims who have still not received federal aid. "We've got a lot of important work to do, but this is how the vice president chooses to act," he said. 'Sadly, it's just an indicator of how petty and unserious this administration is ... you'd think he'd take the situation in Los Angeles more seriously.' Padilla and Vance served together in the 100-member U.S. Senate between January 2021 and January 2025. As vice-president, Vance is now president of the Senate. Padilla wasn't the only one unimpressed by Vance's comments in LA. The city's mayor, Karen Bass, called his commentary "an attempt to provoke division and conflict" and that he spent his time "spewing lies and utter nonsense." 'We were able to handle the violence and the vandalism that occurred,' Bass said. 'Our streets have been peaceful, and even when there was vandalism at its height, you are talking about a couple hundred people who were not necessarily associated with any of the peaceful protests.' She also accused Vance of disrespecting the senator by calling him the wrong name. 'How dare you disrespect our senator?' she said during a press conference. 'The last time I checked, the vice president of the United States is the president of the U.S. Senate. You serve with him today, and how dare you disrespect him and call him José? But I guess he just looked like anybody to you. Well, he's not just anybody to us. He is our senator.' Governor Gavin Newsom also waded into the fight, implying that Vance was being intentionally dismissive and disrespectful to the senator. 'JD Vance served with Alex Padilla in the United States Senate,' the governor wrote on X. 'Calling him 'José Padilla' is not an accident.'
