They’re Gaslighting Us Again

It wasn’t enough to tackle and handcuff a sitting U.S. senator. They also are lying openly about why they did it.

Everyone’s likely already heard and even seen video of what happened yesterday.

To recap, Sen. Alex Padilla began interrupting Kristi Noem’s press conference with a question. For this disruption and transgression, he was quickly punished: Authorities manhandled him, shoved him out of the room, made him get on the floor and handcuffed him. He was released shortly thereafter.

There are two versions of these events. There’s the one that actually happened, as conveyed not only by the senator but as captured on video from multiple angles. Then there’s the one the White House is spinning, which is replete with lies and meant to muddy the waters.

So let’s be very clear about what happened here. A sitting U.S. senator—who sought to exercise his First Amendment right to ask questions at an open press conference given by a Department over which he has oversight and jurisdiction— was forcibly removed by security and cuffed. All this took place despite his announcing who he was and posing no threat to Secretary Noem, unless you accept that a brown-skinned man asking some basic questions is inherently a dangerous thing.

This over-the-top aggression by the Trump regime is nothing new. The very reason Sen. Padilla needed to confront Noem was because her ICE goons have been terrorizing his constituents for weeks, and she’d refused to answer his office’s questions. The response of this White House? Shut down debate, then intimidate, detain and even arrest its political opponents.

That is un-American. It must be condemned by everyone, from elected officials of both parties, to the U.S. media, to clergy and local leaders.

Let’s take a closer look at what occurred so we can set the record straight and push back against the White House’s false narrative. Then let’s look at the broader context in which this incident occurred, where going after civic and elected officials is now clearly part of their plan to destroy our democracy.

Off the cuffs

As Sen. Padilla recounted in a video recorded afterwards, he had been in Los Angeles and already in that federal building specifically for a briefing. He was told that Noem was also there in the same building, just down the hall, delivering remarks. So he asked to be taken there. He wanted to hear what Noem had to say, especially because his office had been writing to her Department for months about what agents had been doing, but with little to no response.

This next fact is important: According to Padilla, and as likely easily verifiable by the officers who were with him, the FBI and the National Guard escorted the senator into the room. And there he stood listening to her misrepresent and malign his constituents and California officials.

Noem would not have been surprised to see Sen. Padilla in attendance. After all, he is the ranking member of the Senate Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship and Border Safety. That means his subcommittee has oversight responsibilities over her Department. Noem and her office have interacted with Sen. Padilla often, yet she now claims she didn’t recognize him.

Perhaps she has just has trouble telling minorities apart?

When Padilla spoke up to challenge her false statements and propaganda, he was forcibly ejected from the room. Here is a video taken of that moment, and you can clearly hear him announce who he is and that he has questions for her.

Despite the senator identifying himself, he was pulled out of the room, and then it got worse. There in the hallway outside, officers forced him down on his stomach and cuffed his hands behind his back. Again, they knew at the time that they were doing this to a U.S. senator because he had announced himself.

Moreover, Sen. Padilla is a frequent visitor to that federal building and is presumably known to authorities. And the FBI agent and National Guardsman who had escorted him into the room apparently did nothing to intercede.

The gaslighting is real

The proper response of any decent administration would be to apologize immediately for the mistreatment and profound disrespect shown to the senator. But this is the Trump White House, so instead it began to lie.

As The Hill reported,

The White House knocked Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) for interrupting Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s press conference Thursday in Los Angeles, saying that the Democratic senator wanted attention.

“Padilla stormed a press conference, without wearing his Senate pin or previously identifying himself to security, yelled, and lunged toward Secretary Noem. Padilla didn’t want answers; he wanted attention,” said Abigail Jackson, a White House spokesperson. “Padilla embarrassed himself and his constituents with this immature, theater-kid stunt.”

There’s a lot to unpack here. Padilla did not “storm” the press conference. He was escorted into the room by authorities, who knew who he was. In case others there didn’t, he plainly announced who he was. Nor did he “lunge” toward Noem, but sought to resist being pushed out of the room.

The White House version seeks to justify the mistreatment of Padilla by putting the blame on him, and not on the authorities who manhandled him. Noem clearly never felt threatened in any way because she kept talking without interruption.

It’s all there in the above video, but to make this doubly clear, here’s another angle from a camera operated by CBS News. You can see and hear for yourself that Padilla begins his question from a standing still position, quite calmly asking, “Madam Secretary, I want to know why you insist on exaggerating and embellishing…” before he is forcefully pushed back by security.

Note: I use Xcancel links, which mirror Twitter without sending any traffic to it. Issues? Click the settings gear on the upper right of the Xcancel page and select “proxy video streaming through the server.” Then click “save preferences” at the bottom.

Noem could have stopped the presser at that moment and said to her security team, “That’s Senator Alex Padilla, please take your hands off of him.” But she continued with her remarks, undisturbed.

Contrary to White House assertions, and as this video makes doubly clear, Sen. Padilla never “stormed” the press conference. He never “lunged” toward Noem. He hadn’t even yelled until he was forcibly removed.

And for the White House to claim Padilla’s attempt to confront Noem and ask her questions she has been dodging for months was a “theater” stunt is ironic in the extreme, given Noem’s penchant for cosplaying and using armaments and even human beings as political props.

Later that evening, Speaker Mike Johnson weighed in on the side of the gaslighters, calling not for accountability for those who had laid hands on the senator, but for Padilla’s censure for disrupting Noem’s remarks.

One other point here. Padilla was morally justified to challenge and even interrupt Noem’s stream of fascistic propaganda. Here is a snippet of what she had said at that presser:

“We are staying here to liberate the city from the socialists and the burdensome leadership that this governor and that this mayor have placed on this country.”

That sounds like a threat to use force to deprive Angelinos of their lawfully elected representatives. If that kind of talk can’t be peacefully interrupted by a U.S. Senator without him being hauled off and handcuffed, we are already in deep authoritarian waters.

Don’t overlook the context

The Trump White House would have us believe that this is some kind of isolated incident, and not part of a concerted effort to use force and intimidation against Democratic elected officials. The record lately demonstrates otherwise.

In the past months, the regime has indicted, arrested and/or handcuffed a circuit court judge in Milwaukee, a mayor of a city in New Jersey, a sitting U.S. Congresswoman, and now a sitting U.S. Senator. The pattern is unmistakable, the message loud and clear: “Don’t make trouble, or we’ll come for you.”

Notably, all of these officials are women or minorities.

But this tactic is now backfiring. Instead of intimidating officials into greater silence, the regime’s abuses are galvanizing the opposition into greater action. And it is making heroes of leaders who stand up to it, even of governors like Gavin Newsom, who had recently lost considerable credibility in the eyes of liberals and progressives.

The image of U.S. senators being shoved and handcuffed, just for interrupting an official to correct the lies she is peddling, will also infuriate and mobilize many Democrats just as mass protests are called nationwide for tomorrow. Millions will see this assault on free speech for what it is: a clear sign of fascist, police state tactics from an out-of-control Trump White House.