Vice-President JD Vance has drawn widespread criticism after referring to California Senator Alex Padilla by the name of a convicted terrorist, prompting accusations of pettiness and racial provocation from Democrats and observers nationwide.
The controversy stems from a press event on Friday during Vance’s visit to Los Angeles, where he was questioned about the Trump administration’s aggressive response to recent anti-ICE protests. In a remark widely condemned as deliberate and inflammatory, Vance referred to the senator as “Jose Padilla” invoking the name of a U.S. citizen convicted in 2007 of plotting to detonate a radioactive bomb for al-Qaida.
“I was hoping Jose Padilla would be here to ask a question,” Vance said, smirking, before adding: “I guess he decided not to show up because there wasn’t a theater. And that’s all it is.”
Padilla, a sitting senator since 2021 and a former colleague of Vance’s in the Senate, responded to the jab during an appearance on MSNBC’s The Weekend, stating, “He knows my name, he knows my name.” He called the remark evidence of how “petty and unserious this administration is.”
“You’d think he’d take the situation in Los Angeles more seriously. We’ve got a lot of important work to do. But this is how the vice-president chooses to act, and that says a lot,” Padilla said.
Padilla had made headlines earlier this month when he was forcibly removed and handcuffed during a 12 June press conference led by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, following protests against the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement tactics. The senator said he was attempting to ask questions about federal policy when he was detained. He has not been arrested or charged.
Padilla denounced the White House’s recent immigration measures, claiming that while he supports targeting “drug dealers, violent criminals, dangerous criminals,” the reality is that many of those detained by ICE have “no serious criminal convictions.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom also waded into the row, blasting Vance on social media: “JD Vance served with Alex Padilla in the United States Senate. Calling him ‘Jose Padilla’ is not an accident.” In a follow-up post, Newsom challenged Vance to a debate: “Since you’re so eager to talk about me, how about saying it to my face? Let’s debate. Time and place?”
Newsom’s team later shared a cartoonish image of Vance at a podium, mocking the vice-president and tagging President Trump: “Donald, you should send @JDVance out to California more often. He’s absolutely crushing it!”
The vice-president’s office attempted to downplay the insult, claiming that Vance had merely “mixed up two people who broke the law” a statement that quickly drew more criticism, as Padilla has no criminal charges and was detained in what many call a clear case of government overreach.
Reflecting on his forced removal, Padilla said, “As painful as [the removal] was for me, for my family, it’s not about me. If this is what this administration is willing to do to a senator trying to ask a question, imagine what is happening in all corners of the country … when the cameras are not on.”
Padilla, the first Latino senator from California, has long been a vocal critic of Trump-era immigration policies. His latest clash with the administration signals growing tensions between state and federal leadership in Democratic strongholds like California and serves as a stark reminder of the deep divisions in American political discourse.
