The microphone was hot. The cameras were rolling. Vice President J.D. Vance stood in Los Angeles and said, “I was hoping Jose Padilla would be here to ask a question.” The problem? The senator’s name is Alex Padilla. He’s the first Latino senator from California. He served alongside Vance in the Senate. And he wasn’t amused.
The moment landed like a hammer. California Democrats erupted. Governor Gavin Newsom posted within minutes, calling the remark deliberate. “Calling him ‘Jose Padilla’ is not an accident,” he wrote. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass didn’t hold back either. “He is our senator,” she said. “How dare you disrespect him like that?”
Vance’s team said it was a mix-up. A spokesperson claimed he confused Padilla with someone else who had “broken the law.” That didn’t help. Padilla had been forcibly removed from a DHS press conference the week before after confronting Secretary Kristi Noem about ICE raids. He wasn’t charged. He wasn’t arrested. He was silenced.
The backdrop matters. Los Angeles is the epicenter of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Marines and National Guard troops are stationed outside federal buildings. ICE raids have swept through neighborhoods. Protesters have clashed with law enforcement. A federal appeals court just ruled that Trump can retain control of the California National Guard, overriding Newsom’s objections.
The tension is not abstract. It’s visible. It’s loud. And it’s personal. On the same day Vance made his remark, ICE agents detained two undocumented gardeners while they were mowing a lawn in Pico Rivera. The arrest was caught on video. The men were zip-tied and loaded into a van. No warrants. No warning. Just gone.
Newsom’s stock is rising in the chaos. He’s positioning himself as the firewall between federal power and California’s autonomy. He’s called for the removal of federal troops. He’s demanded oversight of ICE operations. And he’s challenging the administration’s authority in court and on camera.
Sources:
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/21/alex-padilla-jd-vance-fight-00416393
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5361883-vance-padilla-california-democrats-backlash/