JD Vance Calls Alex Padilla, Latino Senator Handcuffed at DHS Conference, 'José' During Anti-Dem Tirade

U.S. Vice President JD Vance referred to California Sen. Alex Padilla as "José" during a Friday tirade against Democrats, following Padilla's disruption of a press conference held by Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem.

"I was hoping José Padilla would be here to ask a question. But, unfortunately, I guess he decided not to show up because there wasn't the theater, and that's all it is," Vance said in a clip circulating on X. "It's pure political theater. These guys show up. They want to be captured on camera doing something."

A spokesperson for Vance told NBC News "he must have mixed up two people who have broken the law," but did not provide further clarification. Some believe Vance was referencing a criminal named José Padilla, who is serving a 21-year prison sentence for aiding terrorists.

In response, Padilla told MSNBC on Saturday that the Vice President's comment was "an indicator of how petty and unserious this administration is."

"But he's the vice president of the United States, you think he'd take the situation in Los Angeles more seriously," Padilla added. "You think maybe he'd take a moment to talk to some of the families who have been impacted, have been terrorized, to feel what's really going on on the ground."

Vance was referring to Padilla being shoved to the ground and arrested because he attempted to ask Noem a question during a press conference last week. The California lawmaker, who was the first Latino elected into the Senate, criticized the Trump administration for responding with violence "to a senator with a question," adding he can only imagine "what they're doing to farmworkers, to cooks, to day laborers out in the Los Angeles community and throughout California and throughout the country."

Padilla was eventually granted a 20-minute conversation with Noem.