Home Immigration Sen. Mark Warner: “This footage is outrageous — it’s something I’d expect...

Sen. Mark Warner: “This footage is outrageous — it’s something I’d expect out of an authoritarian nation, not the United States of America.”

Sen. Tim Kaine: "This is despicable."

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lowkell
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See below for reactions from Senators Tim Kaine, Mark Warner and others to the thuggish, police-state-style bullshit we saw earlier today as Sen. Alex Padilla attempted to ask puppy-killing sociopath and fascist Kristi Noem – who NOBODY should have voted to confirm as DHS Secretary! – serious, important questions that she should be (but clearly isn’t) prepared to answer. As Sen. Warner asks, “What kind of world do we live in where a sitting Senator can’t ask a question of a public official without being dragged away and handcuffed?” So, first of all, stop thinking of Republicans as your “friends,” because they’re definitely not. And second of all, stop thinking that the ways things used to be decades ago, where there were moderate and even progressive Republicans, bear any resemblance whatsoever to the current reality we find ourselves in. Then, please, behave accordingly – as if we’re in a 50-alarm fire, not as if it’s business as usual!

  • Sen. Mark Warner: “What kind of world do we live in where a sitting Senator can’t ask a question of a public official without being dragged away and handcuffed? This footage is outrageous — it’s something I’d expect out of an authoritarian nation, not the United States of America.”
  • Sen. Tim Kaine: “This is how the Trump Administration treats a U.S. Senator who was raising serious concerns about the use of military force in his hometown. This is despicable.”
  • Rep. Eugene Vindman (D-VA07): “This cannot stand. We live in a free country where every citizen has the right to freedom of speech and assembly. Senator Padilla was exercising those rights on behalf of his constituents.”
  • Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA03):  “We should all be outraged. If the Trump Administration is willing to treat a sitting United States Senator who posed no threat to anyone like this, how will they treat everyone else?”
  • Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA08): “This is another disgraceful episode in a long train of abuses from a thuggish administration that has repeatedly incited and encouraged violence. What happened to Senator Padilla today is horrifying. This incident must be investigated, and everyone involved held accountable.”
  • Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi: “This assault is not only o
    @SenAlexPadilla, but on freedom of speech and expression in our country. These actions taken by Trump’s DHS communicates a message to all Americans that none of us is safe.”
  • House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries: “Senator Alex Padilla is a good man and principled public servant. The brazen and aggressive manhandling of Senator Padilla by the Trump administration is a sickening disgrace. Anyone who assaulted the Senator should be held accountable. No one is above the law.”
  • Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer: “Sen. Padilla thrown to the ground, manhandled, brutally taken down, handcuffed It’s disgusting Reeks of totalitarianism Un-American Not what democracies do Sen. Padilla was in that building to ask questions of what’s going on in California, doing his duty to his constituents We need answers now”
  • Former VP Kamala Harris (note: if she were president right now, NONE of this insanity would be happening!): “United States Senator Alex Padilla was representing the millions of Californians who are demanding answers to this Administration’s actions in Southern California. This is a shameful and stunning abuse of power.”

Beyer Statement On Assault On Senator Padilla

June 12, 2025 (Washington, D.C.) – Congressman Don Beyer (D-VA) issued the following statement today after U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) was assaulted while attempting to ask Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem a question during a press conference in Los Angeles:

“This is another disgraceful episode in a long train of abuses from a thuggish administration that has repeatedly incited and encouraged violence. What happened to Senator Padilla today is horrifying. This incident must be investigated, and everyone involved held accountable.

“Kristi Noem went to Los Angeles to help this Administration inflame and escalate a problem they are causing. Now she has the audacity to condone violence against a United States Senator for daring to ask her a question in his state. Rather than apologizing and trying to resolve a problem she helped create, Noem is lying about what happened and making it worse.

“This is unacceptable behavior from a Cabinet official, and it should be clear to everyone that Kristi Noem does not have the credibility or integrity to continue serving.”

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