Speaking to reporters in Los Angeles on Friday, Vice President JD Vance claimed Democrats like California’s Sen. Alex Padilla, who was handcuffed amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrants, are simply “grandstanding.”
Vance, however, couldn’t get his former Senate colleague’s name right.
“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,” Vance said, botching the Latino senator’s first name. “And that’s all it is.”
Padilla spokesperson Tess Oswald called Vance’s remarks “unserious.”
“As a former colleague of Senator Padilla, the Vice President knows better. He should be more focused on demilitarizing our city than taking cheap shots,” she said. “Another unserious comment from an unserious administration.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) also seized on Vance’s comment.
“JD Vance served with Alex Padilla in the United States Senate,” Newsom wrote on X. “Calling him ‘Jose Padilla’ is not an accident.”
In a separate post from his official gubernatorial account, Newsom simply posted a screenshot of an infamous Vance campaign ad from his 2022 Senate campaign titled, “Are You A Racist?”
Others on social media pointed out that José Padilla is the name of a man who was arrested in 2002 for plotting a “dirty bomb” attack. It’s unclear if Vance intended to reference that José Padilla, who remains imprisoned in Colorado, but his office suggested that was the case.
“He must have mixed up two people who have broken the law,” Vance spokesperson Taylor Van Kirk said in a statement.
In his remarks, Vance did not correct himself, but went on to accuse Padilla and other Democrats of engaging in publicity stunts.
“It’s pure political theater,” Vance said. “These guys show up, they want to be captured on camera doing something. They want to be able to go back to their far-left groups and say, ‘Look at me, I stood up against border enforcement, I stood up against Donald Trump.’”
Earlier this month, Padilla was forcibly removed and handcuffed after attempting to ask a question at a press conference held by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in Los Angeles amid large protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in the city. The incident caused widespread outrage and alarm among Democratic officials, while Republicans largely blamed Padilla and accused him of intentionally causing a scene.
“I think these guys, we oughta laugh them out of the building,” Vance said Friday. “If they want to work seriously on border enforcement and on keeping their communities safe, the Trump administration’s door is wide open. But they’re not doing that. They love the grandstanding.”
Vance is visiting LA one day after a judge ruled that Trump can maintain control of National Guard troops he’s sent to the city, following a legal challenge from Newsom.
During his press conference, Vance told reporters Trump will continue to deploy the military “if he has to.”
“If you let violent rioters burn cities to the ground, then of course we’re going to send people in,” Vance said.
Despite Vance’s assessment, Los Angeles has not been burned to the ground by rioters, and protests have been largely peaceful.