A Democratic lawmaker broke with the party on Thursday to tout MAGA talking points about the altercation between Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla (Calif.).
While Democrats condemn the treatment of Padilla, Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine) called the altercation “theater” using the same language as Noem’s staff who were caught lying about the incident.
“I think that it’s never good when a senator or member of Congress gets roughed up by law enforcement,” Golden told Axios. “I don’t think politics as theater is what our job is here.”
Padilla was forcibly removed from a news conference in Los Angeles, the senator’s home state, on Thursday and briefly detained after trying to question Noem.
Video shows the senator clearly identifying himself before he was taken into a hallway outside and pushed face forward onto the ground as officers with FBI-identifying vests told him to put his hands behind his back. The officers then handcuffed him.
“Storming into the FBI headquarters and trying to break up a press conference and rushing on a [Cabinet] secretary is not really the job of an elected official,” Golden told Axios.
The Democratic lawmaker is echoing talking points pushed by Noem and her staff after the altercation which are not true.
“This man burst into the room, started lunging towards the podium, interrupting me and elevating his voice and was stopped. Did not identify himself,” Noem told Fox News on Thursday, adding that “nobody knew who he was.”
The Department of Homeland Security doubled down on the lie in a statement.
“Senator Padilla chose disrespectful political theatre and interrupted a live press conference without identifying himself or having his Senate security pin on as he lunged toward Secretary Noem. Mr. Padilla was told repeatedly to back away and did not comply with officers’ repeated commands,” the statement said. “@SecretService thought he was an attacker and officers acted appropriately.”
