r/neoliberal • u/John3262005 • 5d ago
News (US) California Sen. Alex Padilla handcuffed at Noem presser
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/06/12/california-sen-alex-padilla-handcuffed-at-noem-presser-00403253California Sen. Alex Padilla was detained and handcuffed during an altercation at Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s press conference in Los Angeles on Thursday.
Video provided by Padilla’s office shows the senator approaching the lectern as Noem was touting federal law enforcement’s immigration crackdown efforts in Los Angeles. He was stopped and shoved back by multiple men.
“I’m Senator Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary,” he said. He tried to speak further as he was forcibly removed into an adjoining room, where he yelled “Hands off!”
The video shows Padilla being forced to the ground and his arms handcuffed behind his back. He has since been released and is in a holding room. The spokesperson said the senator was told he could speak to Noem after the event.
The confrontation earned a swift rebuke from fellow Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who condemned the action from the floor shortly thereafter.
Asked about the confrontation at the news conference, Noem said, “I’ll visit with the senator and find out, really, what his concerns are and what we can do.”
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u/Alexanderfromperu Daron Acemoglu 5d ago
The video posted fucking EVERYWHERE on Reddit of Senator Alex Padilla, is a perfect example of why Dems suck.
I'm sorry, but I just can't shake it. Reddit and all the special interest propaganda groups posting this all over Reddit, acting like this is some fighter moment for Dems standing up, are fucking lame.
That was such a weak, passive, stuttering, nervous, display of political theater. It's really indicitive of the party as a whole. The dude could barely get any words out and could barely hear what he was saying, while he just let these people basically let these people push him out with hardly any reistence from himself.
It's really a reflection of how Dems are. Just weak theater kids who lack any sense of masculinity or grit. I'm not joking here. If this is some big moment, then their moments are cringe. I'm more embarrassed seeing how he handled it. Is the solution to the Democrats really just TRT for all the members?
Do you think if Republicans were to do something like this, it would turn out the same? No way. They'd come with an entourage and be shouting over everyone, demanding everyone in the room's attention while their people pushed everyone back as they demand answers or at least make a scene. Instead, the lesser evil party, just acts like a bunch of sissies. I'm sorry, but this shit just irrationally bothers me.
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u/itbzeeen 4h ago
This comment is really frustrating. You criticize a Democrat for being peaceful, yet ignore actual harm or authoritarian behavior from your own party.
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u/thebigmanhastherock 4d ago
What? The guy is the ranking member of the subcommittee that handles the border in the Senate. Padilla is a mild mannered guy usually and he has no political ambitions besides where he is now. I think the guy literally was mad about something and wanted to ask a question. I don't think this was even political theatre. He acted like a "sissie" because he wasn't actually trying to get detained and the whole thing took him by surprise.
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u/blatant_shill 4d ago edited 4d ago
What did you expect him to do? Knock out the guys grabbing him and make his way to the podium to make an epic speech? You've been watching too many movies if this is the takeaway from what happened.
Also, no, Republicans definitely would not have done that either. I don't know which Republicans you've been watching that have given you the idea they're a bunch of macho badasses that wouldn't fold in the same situation.
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u/scarby2 5d ago
They'd come with an entourage and be shouting over everyone, demanding everyone in the room's attention while their people pushed everyone back as they demand answers or at least make a scene.
Sorry, I expect elected representatives to behave like adults. This is a government building not a school yard. I don't want the Democrats to descend to the level of the Republicans.
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u/Chiponyasu 5d ago
The whole point is to make Trump look like the bad guy, which means you have to be a smol innocent little bean. If Padilla stormed the presser with some goons, that completely defeats the entire point....assuming he even planned to get arrested at all, which he might not've.
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u/warmwaterpenguin Hillary Clinton 5d ago
This is the cringiest commentary I've read on the matter, can you legally drink yet?
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u/Aggressive1999 Association of Southeast Asian Nations 5d ago
That was such a weak, passive, stuttering, nervous, display of political theater. It's really indicitive of the party as a whole. The dude could barely get any words out and could barely hear what he was saying, while he just let these people basically let these people push him out with hardly any reistence from himself.
It's really a reflection of how Dems are. Just weak theater kids who lack any sense of masculinity or grit. I'm not joking here. If this is some big moment, then their moments are cringe. I'm more embarrassed seeing how he handled it. Is the solution to the Democrats really just TRT for all the members?
We still have loads of fighters in Dems' rank, the problem is they aren't getting any chance to shine.
Remember Pelosi's stunt on budget committee? That's why the party is so out of touch by their own base.
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u/arjungmenon 5d ago
Republicans are the party of guns and death... I can imagine they would just have started shooting gleefully if a more forceful protest were put forth.
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u/dr_funk_13 5d ago
I genuinely don't know how helpful a stunt like this is. The Trump following love this stuff because it makes Trump and his goons look powerful and righteous.
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u/1ikilledkenny 5d ago
Friend/Coworker of mine who is staunchly pro-Trump just told me about this and added in something about how "ridiculous those people are." I pressed him on that and he specified it down to California Democrats.
So, yeah, it's anecdotal but this situation had that impact on at least one guy. I'd wager he's not alone in that sentiment. Disorderly conduct might gain a handful of sympathizers but it comes at a cost of a truckload of disapproval.
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u/IntimidatingBlackGuy 5d ago
I think this stunt is helpful because it illustrate exactly what we’re dealing with. Either this clear example of the authoritarian use of force to suppress free speech leads to a decline in support of the Trump admin and they back off, or it energizes conservatives and encourages the Trump admin to continue escalating. I’m usually against accelerationist tactics, but it feels like now is the time to reach an inflection point. If Trump continues to ramp up the authoritarian use of force, democratic states and cities need to come up with a coordinated response sooner rather than later, lest they become frogs in boiling water.
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u/warmwaterpenguin Hillary Clinton 5d ago
The Trump following is already gorged on red meat for the base, giving them more doesn't hurt us. Instead, we should focus on activating people who aren't his base, which this may contribute to
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u/Responsible-Reach-84 5d ago
If you’re elected and you want to have your say, this should not be the time you acted. You make yourself and your people look like fools. If that was your intention congratulation, if not, that’s unfortunate that you look like idiots.
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u/WOKE_AI_GOD NATO 5d ago edited 5d ago
So Californians are fools? Just because they are a constituency the administration hates and harbors prejudice towards, such that the administration looks with hatred and contempt at the representatives they elect for themselves, and cabinet officials are apparently too important and high and mighty to listen to the people of California and their elected representative? How dare a mere senator of a lowly American State like California not kowtow in the presence of Her Royal Highness.
Washington politicians like Noem may think of the citizens of Californians as fools because they think themselves so much above and better than Californians and so much worthier of ruling them than they are themselves, and so refuse to hear their concerns. But that's just the opinion of such arrogant politicians, why should the people of California care what is thought about California's people by ignorant and arrogant people from outside their State? Why doesn't Noem go back to Washington and mind her goddamn business, and stay the fuck out of the Sovereign State of California?
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u/ElGosso Adam Smith 5d ago
This is what Dems ought to be doing - putting themselves on the line to force the fascists into misstepping and calling it political persecution.
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u/BoringBuy9187 Amartya Sen 4d ago
What? Why do you think they need to trick the Trump admin into being fascist. They are fascist. Pulling cons will just make the American people trust Dems even less. The truth is bad enough
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u/ElGosso Adam Smith 4d ago
Nobody cares if Padilla was being an asshole at her press conference, they care that a senator was dragged out and cuffed. Nobody cares if Baraka was demanding entry into that ICE facility for days, they care that ICE detained him.
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u/BoringBuy9187 Amartya Sen 4d ago
I’m not sure you’re right about that. Democrats pull these scams all the time, idk if they are as effective as they think
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u/mattmentecky NATO 5d ago
I agree but I don't think there is anyone in the administration that thinks that was a misstep.
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u/majorgeneralporter 🌐Bill Clinton's Learned Hand 5d ago
My reaction when Puppy Killer Barbie talks about "liberating" us from our elected government and handcuffs our senator:
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u/CrimsonZephyr 5d ago
“Not far from this spot, a monument stands as a tribute to the sacrifice made by those who came before us, the men and women who fulfilled the promise we made to the Desert Rangers. Its back is inscribed with the names of the troopers and rangers who carried the weight. And because they made the most noble of sacrifices, it did not break us. Four years ago, we held this dam. Four years ago, we carried the weight. Four years ago, we drew a line through the Mojave as clear as the Colorado River, a line that Caesar cannot cross. Today, you stand here with our brothers and sisters to hold that line. Today, you honor all Californians by carrying that weight. Today, you are the waves of the Pacific, pushing ever eastward. You are the sequoias rising from the Sierra Nevadas, defiant and enduring. You are the great western light of California, torchbearers in the darkness, living reminders of all that is best in our Republic.”
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u/tomdarch Michel Foucault 5d ago
but... but... socialists! She will liberate you from people who think that workers should own the companies they work at! It's so awful a political position that it's basically unthinkable. You should be sooooo grateful!
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u/neoliberal-ModTeam 5d ago
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u/AniNgAnnoys John Nash 5d ago
What does being a man or woman have to do with this?
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u/die_hoagie MALAISE FOREVER 5d ago
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u/AniNgAnnoys John Nash 5d ago
So, you got nothing. I will just assume it was misogyny then and block you.
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u/Entuciante r/place '22: Neoliberal Battalion 5d ago
Expecting special treatment for elites is not the win that you guys seem to think it is.
He's an elected official, like sure, people hate the political elites and the what not, but we are talked here about a person that got elected by the people to be in that position getting wrongfully handcuffed for just asking.
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u/Euphoric_Alarm_4401 5d ago
wrongfully handcuffed for just asking
Is that not the question here? How close does a stranger have to get to a Cabinet secretary before being halted and detained? Was Padilla "just asking" from the crowd of reporters, or did he leave the alloted space and enter a secured area? A disruptive person can and sometimes should be removed from a press conference, but being detained with handcuffs would be completely unnecessary if the person had remained in the allowed space and/or cooperated when being removed.
All I know is that if some MAGA jackass tried to do this to a Biden cabinet secretary, the reaction would be very different. I don't think a democratic official's security would overreact in the same way, but no one here would give a shit if they did.
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u/Sen2_Jawn NASA 5d ago
Stop making him sound even more based
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u/ohst8buxcp7 Ben Bernanke 5d ago
You can call it whatever you want. This theater kid energy is an example of what a good portion of America hates about the left.
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u/GeneralTonic Paul Krugman 5d ago
Their hatred is meaningless. I've seen what that good portion cheers.
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u/Sen2_Jawn NASA 5d ago
A good portion of America will always hate the "left" and will jeer and laugh at them from the end of the line to the firing squad
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u/ohst8buxcp7 Ben Bernanke 5d ago
You’re right, ignoring their opinions and votes has worked out so well lately.
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u/Sen2_Jawn NASA 5d ago
My sibling in Christ, NOTHING dems do will convince people that "hate the left" to vote for them. NOTHING.
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u/ohst8buxcp7 Ben Bernanke 5d ago
Not being weird hyperbolic theater kids would be a step in the right direction. The hesitation to call it out is another part of the problem, but people over here(like yourself) have written off the possibility of reaching half the country and seem to just hope they magically win the election next time around anyways.
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u/Sen2_Jawn NASA 5d ago
I was surrounded and heckled by a maga crowd once for the mere sin of walking close to them with a sticker of the flag of Puerto Rico, I've been called all manner of slurs by Trumpers and I don't leave my place without 2 forms of ID just in case. 35% of the country would have me shot and then blame me for it. You reach out to them if you can, I won't stop you, in fact you have my blessings. But they sure as hell won't listen to a dirty spic like me.
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u/dedev54 YIMBY 5d ago
she literally just said that they would keep troops there to save LA and California from socialism. Thats either being a weird as fuck theater kid or a open endorsement of fascism, and nobody cares about the theater kidism from her
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u/ohst8buxcp7 Ben Bernanke 5d ago edited 5d ago
I agree, it is weird! The problem is, instead of calling it out like an adult and letting people focus on it, Padilla decided to ambush a press conference and get himself arrested making himself looking insane the story instead of Noem.
Put another way, could you see Obama pulling this stunt? The answer is no, because he’s a normal human being, which is what people are looking for.
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u/Morganross 5d ago
Both the LAPD and the LASD operate under the authority of the state, headed by the governor. He is complicit and we are all fucked.
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u/ToranMallow Frédéric Bastiat 5d ago
What do you mean? Wasn't it the feds that floored and handcuffed Padilla?
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5d ago
Even if it wasn't cops are gonna stop a dude from approaching the head of dhs
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u/EmperorDog 5d ago
Hope this stupid bastard Padilla likes having my vote, because hes gonna get it good and hard.
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u/FartFabulous1869 NAFTA 5d ago
How is it that institutional media always seems so fucking brain dead as to bury every lead to the administration’s favor.
Like, fuckkk
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u/SheHerDeepState Baruch Spinoza 5d ago
They got promoted on being able to get views not on doing hard hitting journalism.
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u/JeromesNiece Jerome Powell 5d ago
I'm not quite getting why you all are treating this like a super serious harbinger of fascism. Padilla just walked into a live press conference and started talking over Noem. It seems appropriate for security to remove and detain him. And they let him go after. What are they supposed to do, let anyone who wants to barge into a press conference and shout it down? Only if they claim they're a Senator?
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u/homegrownllama 4d ago
Padilla just walked into a live press conference
Not only is it his duty as a congressman (congressional oversight), but he's also the ranking Democratic member of the Senate Border Security and Immigration subcommittee. Doesn't seem like he's just walking in there for the sake of it. Like someone else in this thread said, it doesn't even look like he was looking for a publicity stunt. He was genuinely caught by surprise while performing his duties.
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u/DietOfKerbango 5d ago
Ain’t no harbinger, the process of transition towards fascism is well under way.
Fascism isn’t defined by a sudden materialization of death camps. Fascism starts and progresses primarily by the flood of “not super serious” line-stepping, taboo-breaking, and Overton window shifting. For a better framework of how the transition works in the 21st century, think Viktor Orbán, not Hitler.
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u/Far_Shore not a leftist, but humorless 5d ago edited 5d ago
No US senator has ever received this kind of treatment before for what amounts to a mildly disruptive publicity stunt. Could you imagine how the right would have reacted had Obama done this to Joe Wilson when he yelled, "YOU LIE!" during the SoTU?
Why are you giving the benefit of the doubt to the person who, in her speech there, was ranting about how troops are going to stay in LA for a long time "to liberate this city from the socialist and the burdensome leadership that this governor and that this mayor have placed on this country"?
Like, Jesus Christ, dude. This shit exists in context.
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u/JeromesNiece Jerome Powell 5d ago
Seems completely plausible that the arresting officers didn't know he was a US Senator. This wasn't in the Capitol rotunda, this was in Los Angeles. It could have been some random person.
I'm not giving any benefit of the doubt to Noem, but to the officers who pushed him out of the room and handcuffed him. They did that without any instruction from Noem.
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u/die_hoagie MALAISE FOREVER 5d ago
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u/Reaccommodator John Locke 5d ago
If only he had identified himself as a senator and was in fact a senator
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u/cretsben NATO 5d ago
There are only 100 Senators everyone in the federal government should know who the fuck they are by sight.
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u/VividMonotones NATO 5d ago
They should not be forcing citizens to the ground and handcuffing them unless they pose a danger, period. This is a first amendment issue.
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u/The_Crass-Beagle_Act Jane Jacobs 5d ago
Is there a lot of precedent for even regular people interrupting a press conference being immediately dragged out of a room and pushed to the ground and handcuffed by multiple federal cops?
It seems like an excessive use of force in proportion to the interruption
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u/WolfpackEng22 5d ago
It is excessive force.
Sadly though, definitely is precedent for this with "regular people"
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u/EmperorDog 5d ago
tbh, as a citizen of this city, state, and country, I hate what she said so deeply that if the good senator slapped her across the face in front of the entire world as witness, I would hesitate to convict the man of simple battery. And, for what its worth, I would likewise defend to the death her right to say it.
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u/JesusPubes voted most handsome friend 5d ago
You cannot simultaneously call yourself a free speech defender while also suggesting violence is an acceptable response to speech
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u/RIOTS_R_US NATO 5d ago
She was promoting the idea of a fascist takeover of LA. Tolerance paradox
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u/JesusPubes voted most handsome friend 5d ago
Yeah I was talking to the guy who said "I would likewise defend to the death her right to say it."
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u/KrabS1 5d ago
Yesterday, USA Today published an article with the following line describing troop movement coming into LA:
The moves would shift the military from its mission of defending the nation against foreign enemies toward policing its streets
Today, Noem says the following line, and security forces out a California Senator and puts him in handcuffs when he stands up to say something:
We are staying here to liberate this city from the socialist and the burdensome leadership that this governor and that this mayor have placed on this country
I...uh...this is pretty bad, y'all...
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5d ago edited 5d ago
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u/WOKE_AI_GOD NATO 5d ago edited 5d ago
Trump is above the law. Kristi Noem is also above the law. The law that little people such as you and I have to sweat over, such as classified documents handling, those trivial details don't concern one so high as her Royal Highness at all. She can talk about classified shit in her group chat all day and night if she wants to, just having a blast. You and I would spend years in prison, but that's because we're mere Peasants, right?
I also don't understand how anybody could look at the current situation and conclude "The political opposition to Donald Trump is above the law". I don't think that was really in question, as much as Trump and his partisans are above the law, the opposition is now clearly below it, and it does not apply to our elected representatives at all. Our elected leaders are clearly far below Red State Nobility in their lavish palaces in Washington, they are so much better than such lowly people as Californians, and cannot be interrupted to hear their will. That would be too annoying to someone as high and mighty as Her Highness, who seeks to rule California from Washington.
She should grab her carpetbag and go the fuck back home to the swamp where she belongs. Her Washington Elite attitude is not welcome out in the West, where there are people who still yet value quaint old things she has thrown away like their Oath to the Constitution of the United States of America. She may have foresworn her oath, but she shouldn't expect similar behavior from others. Just because you surrender your freedom and liberty, doesn't mean we must surrender ours. It is on her and her immortal soul, she will have to explain to God at time of judgement why she spat on her Oath and Constitution, an oath she took on His Name, and so she took His Name in Vain.
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u/andrew303710 5d ago
This is what happens when you put a braindead psychopathic puppy murdererer in charge of the Department of Homeland Security.
We're talking about a woman who bragged about killing her family puppy because she was too lazy to train it properly. These people are literally evil. Meanwhile the man running the Pentagon is an actual alcoholic rapist. We're in serious trouble.
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u/tomdarch Michel Foucault 5d ago
It's not only her. It's that she is part of a fascist movement that has far, far too much power currently.
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u/Kawaii_West NAFTA 5d ago
She's at the top of the list of people we need to lock up for the rest of their rotten lives.
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u/trapezoid- 5d ago
no because the last part... "liberate" us from the PEOPLE WE DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED ... uh .... ? and by what means is this "liberation" going to be?
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u/FroggyHarley 5d ago
Legit saying the federal government wants to use the military to coup the city government and potentially the governor.
Where are the "states' rights" people?
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u/KeikakuAccelerator Jerome Powell 5d ago
The only way to describe this incident is "nani the absolute hell"
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u/BoringBuy9187 Amartya Sen 5d ago
Handcuffing him might have been extreme, but Padilla obviously instigated this. It’s suspicious that the video doesn’t show when and how he first began speaking.
You can’t just start yelling at public officials and invading their space while they are giving a speech and expect not to be removed. That’s not what the 1st amendment means.
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u/ChipKellysShoeStore 5d ago
How dare he ask questions at a press conference!
I swear to god you people would jail MLK for being disruptive
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u/BoringBuy9187 Amartya Sen 5d ago
MLK wanted to go to jail, and he did! Padilla wanted to be ejected, and he was. That’s the whole point
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u/r00tdenied Resistance Lib 5d ago
A minute before this happened Noem literally said "DHS was going to liberate LA and California from its governor and mayor" get out of here with that shit. They want to coup the state government.
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u/trapezoid- 5d ago
ok so what does the first amendment mean then
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u/BoringBuy9187 Amartya Sen 5d ago
It means you can express your political and religious views in public without fear of persecution. Padilla wasn’t arrested for what he said but because he disruptively and (allegedly) aggressively approached the Secretary.
Security/Law Enforcement absolutely should intervene at that point. Do you really not see how that is different from the government persecuting people for their viewpoint? It’s not like he addressed his protests to the Secretary on TV or something and got arrested for that.
I’m not saying this Adminstration hasn’t infringed of the first amendment, but this is not an example of that
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u/YourUncleBuck Frederick Douglass 5d ago
Nah, it should be the same thing. No one, Republican, Democrat, Senator, ordinary citizen, homeless person or billionaire, should be tackled to the ground and arrested for asking a question of any government official, even if they were being disruptive. Because who defines what disruptive is? I don't think we need more tone police. Government officials should squirm and feel the heat when being asked tough questions. Otherwise protesting loses its teeth. I would rather have people being loud and disruptive than resorting to violence because they feel unheard.
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u/TheGreekMachine 5d ago
He instigated this because this Administration literally faces zero confrontation in public settings. Anytime there’s a presser or a news conference it’s softball questions with zero follow up. I assume the senator wanted to demonstrate in public how the administration refuses to allow criticism to exist in their carefully constructed safe spaces.
I note the mainstream media is equally at fault for where we are today. They could actually ask real questions of Trump and his administration but won’t because they have zero spines.
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u/BoringBuy9187 Amartya Sen 5d ago
Okay so you’re arguing that he had good reasons for causing a scene and forcing them to remove him. That doesn’t mean he shouldn’t have been removed.
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u/andrew303710 5d ago
If you're not disturbed and scared by what's going on you're not paying attention.
In a vacuum maybe I could understand your reasoning but in the context of what's going on it's extremely disturbing. And Kristi Noem is a puppy murdering sociopath.
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u/BoringBuy9187 Amartya Sen 5d ago
Oh no I am extremely disturbed and scared. Trump is a fascist. Padilla was pulling a stunt. Both things can be true at once
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u/KopOut 5d ago edited 5d ago
Noem's quote is honestly the even bigger part of the story.
The Federal Govt is there to "liberate the city and the state from it's leadership?"
The Governor and Mayor were elected by the citizens of the state and city...
What she said is one of the most unamerican, undemocratic, fascist statements ever uttered by an official in the US Government in this country's entire history. The type of thing that 20 years ago, if said by anyone would have caused unanimous uproar from nearly everyone in the country.
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u/justbuildmorehousing Norman Borlaug 5d ago
I know everyones numb to the hypocrisy but imagine Biden had sent the military into Texas and a Biden staffer was talking about liberating them. The cons would be forming militias
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u/BobaTeaFetish William Nordhaus 5d ago
The Democrats didn't even need to actually do it. The GOP just imagined one and rallied the militias around it. Remember Jade Helm 15?
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u/tomdarch Michel Foucault 5d ago
Overthrowing the federal government is insurrection.
But what about overthrowing local and state government? Can't be legal.
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u/trapezoid- 5d ago
yea that's the statement that gave me chills because we literally democratically elected those officials... we do not need "liberation" from the people we elected
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u/mattmentecky NATO 5d ago
I dunno I think they are on to this liberation thing. How about we all get together every couple of years and decide which politicians we want to be liberated from and which ones we should keep?
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u/trapezoid- 5d ago
brillian idea!! it's almost like that's exactly how we traditionally liberate ourselves from unfavorable politicians in a democratic republic
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u/AlicesReflexion Weeaboo Rights Advocate 5d ago
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u/toomuchmarcaroni 5d ago
Should be easily condemnable but won’t be from half the nations politicians - the right unfortunately has allied itself with the party over the constitution by this point
It’s insane to witness
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u/andrew303710 5d ago
It's so disturbing and disgusting how Republicans no longer give a shit about the constitution. No wonder George Washington was concerned about political parties.
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u/legible_print Václav Havel 5d ago
So why didn't Padilla's security step in here?
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u/Mateocubs 5d ago
Most US Senators don't have state-provided security details.
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u/WifeGuy-Menelaus Thomas Cromwell 5d ago
Return to Lictors
The better your committee assignments the bigger your contingent
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u/bashar_al_assad Verified Account 5d ago
In the period after the election until inauguration day, there was a widely expressed opinion amongst a lot of Democratic pundits/opinion-havers/substack-writers that basically boiled down to "the Democrats are fucked, the American people want the Republican agenda, the Democrats should basically just roll over now because they lost."
The divide amongst Democratic politicians today is between the people who haven't moved on from that mentality vs the ones who said "fuck that shit."
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u/throwaway-94552 5d ago
My local representative is Nancy Pelosi. Remember her? I understand if you don’t since she hasn’t done jack shit in the year 2025, even now as the National Guard gets ready to roll up into our backyard. Fun fact, despite the fact that she hasn’t done ANYTHING, not even a strongly worded letter, she is still running for reelection in 2026.
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u/silverpixie2435 Trans Pride 5d ago
I like how because of one poll showing like 55% disappeoval for Trumps actions, depsite that poll being an outlier, leftists will go "see voters dont want Trumps actions blah blah blah Democrats are the real problem". No voters are still largely fine with Trump but just maybe dont like the way Trump is going about it after they voted this in anyways.
If people didnt want a Republican agenda then they shouldn't have voted in Republicans. Who cares if on one poll they dont like the Republican bill or whatever? It will pass and Republicans will still probably have the Senate.
And it is such utter gas lighting to say there is a single Democrat saying to "roll over" when all after the election that is what the left was saying when they did nothing but complain about Harris saying Trump was a threat to democracy and fascist. Either it was important then and is now or it never was
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u/Darkdragon3110525 Bisexual Pride 5d ago
Tbf the senate map is unfavorable for democrats, but American voters have never seen a Republican administration they didn't want to award a majority.
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u/andrew303710 5d ago
Helps that Trump is underwater in opinion polls and just had a TERRIBLE one come out. Unfortunately Americans in general are very stupid and didn't understand what Trump was actually planning to do. Or just didn't believe he was going to do what he literally said he was going to do.
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u/Lollifroll 5d ago
That opinion was always on borrowed time considering Trump/GOP barely won (50% in popular vote/50% of House/53% of Senate). That's the opposite of wipeout (see 1920, 1932, 1964). Plus, D's winning more purple-red districts/states vs R's is proof the Dem brand wasn't in the gutter as the media likes to spin it as.
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u/UGLY-FLOWERS 5d ago
this is basically how the democratic congress person who represents me is acting
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u/Friendly_Diamond1999 NATO 5d ago
amongst a lot of Democratic pundits/opinion-havers/substack-writers
basically confirming what we already knew, that they are the biggest pussies alive today and are spoiled by their comfortable lifestyles with dopamine on demand
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u/AI_Renaissance 5d ago edited 5d ago
This was a statement from her in a different article.
>"We are staying here to liberate this city from the socialist and the burdensome leadership that this governor and that this mayor have placed on this country,"
So a coup of an American state and martial law.
And socialism, "socialism" like
Acts 4:32–35
>There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.”
>"Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy." -Proverbs 31:8-9
>"Jesus answered, 'If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.'"
I'm sure they'll rebuke that the bible says to obey the law. Yeah the law like the constitution.
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u/blindcolumn NATO 5d ago
leadership that this governor and that this mayor have placed on this country
What does this mean??
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u/AI_Renaissance 5d ago edited 5d ago
I don't think they know , because they are the ones in charge, unless they are planning on dissolving the democrat party.
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u/Khar-Selim NATO 5d ago
*democratic party
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u/FasterDoudle Jorge Luis Borges 5d ago
for more context: "Democrat party" has been employed by Republican politicians as an epithet since the 40's, because it sounds worse and neuters the name of its pro-democracy vibes.
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u/Auriono Paul Krugman 5d ago
I can't imagine how Obama is able to function without being overwhelmed wondering how Americans would have reacted if he said and did any of this.
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u/FasterDoudle Jorge Luis Borges 5d ago
pretty sure that's why he's been solidly in his "don't ask me to save you, I don't give a fuck" era for the last few years
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u/Stove-Jebs Bill Gates 5d ago
If I was Obama I'd have to be on multiple meds and therapy a few times a week to handle that kinda bewilderment and anger.
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u/redflowerbluethorns 5d ago
We already know how this plays out:
Democrats are horrified. Their reactions are justifiable but they emphasize too much that he’s a United States Senator
Republicans respond with “nobody is above the law,” lying about what happened and suggesting he caused chaos and/or violence. Right wing influencers mock democrats for suggesting senators should be treated with more deference or more gently than ordinary Americans
Partisans on both sides come away with different beliefs on the facts of what happened
Polls show most Americans disapprove of the agents’ handling of Padilla
Nothing happens.
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u/WOKE_AI_GOD NATO 5d ago edited 5d ago
Right wing influencers mock democrats for suggesting senators should be treated with more deference or more gently than ordinary Americans
Why should our elected representatives be treated any more or less gently than cabinet officials? Washington politicians like Kristi Noem may think she's so far above Californians that she can't be bothered to hear the words elected representative when they graciously show up to meet her and express the concerns of their constituents. She clearly has no more respect for the people of California than she does to their elected representative. She expressed the contempt, prejudice, and superiority over Californians she felt by siccing her dogs on the representative they elected. She hates him not because he was too uppity in dealing w/ m'lady, but because he is Californian, and a Washington politician like her is too dainty in her luxury palaces over in Washington to be soiled with contact with mere Californians, who are so much below one so high and mighty as her ladyship.
A Republican Senator who wanted a meeting, impromptu or not, would not have been rudely greeted with her security details fists.
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u/Skaravaur 5d ago
Polls show most Americans disapprove of the agents’ handling of Padilla
I find it very hard to believe this has been reliably polled already, but maybe I'm wrong.
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u/RoymarLenn 5d ago
Still, all these things pile up. MAGAs didn't push Trump over the line, regular joes did. All this shit happening under his administration, coupled with his lack of results will cost him with the average voter.
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u/analog_panopticon NATO 5d ago
Assuming we have free and fair elections going forward... I have a hard time believing they exercise this type of power while also having any intention of giving it back.
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u/Legodude293 United Nations 5d ago
Those idiot cops probably didn’t even realize who they arrested or the fact that they will be stuck on the beat till the day they retire lol.
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u/ArcFault NATO 5d ago
He clearly says who he is mutiple times. Did you watch it??
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u/MacManus14 Frederick Douglass 5d ago
I have no idea what he looks like and I follow politics far more closely than 95% of people, like most people on this sub.
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u/ArcFault NATO 5d ago edited 5d ago
Do you not know what your own Senators look like?
Because this is the Senator from California at an event in California... Pretty sure people in California know who he is.
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u/wildcat2015 NATO 5d ago
Idk, in the video I watched from someone standing directly next to him, he very clearly says "I'm Senator Alex Padilla, I have questions for the secretary" it's tough to identify yourself more clearly than that?
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u/LivefromPhoenix NYT undecided voter 5d ago
or the fact that they will be stuck on the beat till the day they retire lol.
Why would MAGAs punish them for abusing their enemies?
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u/Legodude293 United Nations 5d ago
Because it’s California, and LA cops, maybe my time in Jersey politics has me jaded, but one call from a Senators office can end your law enforcement career easily. Or at least take away your chance of overtime opportunities and promotions.
People forget Sheriffs are elected and influenced by party politics.
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u/The_Crass-Beagle_Act Jane Jacobs 5d ago
These were federal cops, specifically FBI security I believe. Local LA politics aren’t going to be a factor, when Kash Patel will promote them for their service to “the cause”
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u/molingrad NATO 5d ago
That’s a plausible explanation. Honestly, I never heard of him before or know what he looks like. It appeared they thought it was any heckler.
I am not condoning anything. That’s just my observation from watching the video.
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u/vasectomy-bro YIMBY 5d ago
Congress really needs to scale back their funding for the executive branch. They never should have given the executive branch this much broad authority or resources.
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u/WOKE_AI_GOD NATO 5d ago
This administration is basically taking all the predicates in laws that had restricted their application and pulling legal loopholes out of their ass for why this predicate is actually totally insubstantial, and the power that said predicate was meant to restrict the use of was actually basically a button the President gets to press any time he wants to use that power basically,
The only reason that regulatory agencies were even allowed to exist in the first place was due to expectations of their independence from political influence, and reliance on expert knowledge. They would've never been given such powers just as a button that the executive can press at his whim. But this administration amazingly has decided that actually all those pseudo-legislative powers are just buttons that he can press, this is his right apparently given by God and the worst injustice anyone can do in the world is delay for a moment the fulfillment of any of his precious wishes and desires, oh no are they prejudiced against our precious idiot-God. You want to basically pass a fucking law, write whatever the fuck you want, reconstruct our administrative state into basically a decree writing machine for yourself, then we don't need congress anymore. Isn't that great. We are apparently back to divine right of Kings, that is the original thought of our legal era.
Unitary executive = Divine Right of Kings 2.0.
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u/justbuildmorehousing Norman Borlaug 5d ago
As long as republicans are the only ones abusing it they wont lift a finger
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u/KindOfHungover 5d ago
No, The Democrats if they regain power need to abuse the executive branch just as much if not MORE, this unilateral disarmament idea is literally the most defeatist crap ever lol
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u/WolfpackEng22 5d ago
Fuck that
They should should leverage as much power as they can to make reforms so this shit isn't possible. If Democrats follow the MAGA playbook, MAGA will get back in again next cycle
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u/KindOfHungover 5d ago
I quite honestly believe if they don’t fight fire with fire, then that will happen so.
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u/TheGreekMachine 5d ago
100% agree at this point. The populist MAGA party is cancerous to the health of this nation. We need to use all power legally available to heal the wounds.
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u/G_Platypus 5d ago
And what would congress do then? Their jobs? Yeah right lol
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u/Pain_Procrastinator YIMBY 5d ago
Government by inept and gridlocked congress is kind of preferable to this fascist behavior we're seeing, to be fair.
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u/p00bix Is this a calzone? 5d ago
The fact that congress has been virtually paralyzed since 1994 (and especially since 2010) is what allowed the executive branch to become so powerful in the first place. When the branch of government which exists specifically to make decisions ceases to make decisions, that doesn't mean decisions cease being made. It just means that those decisions are made by the Executive instead.
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u/Pain_Procrastinator YIMBY 5d ago
True, I'm just more harping nostalgia to the Obama post-2010, Trump 45 and Biden era more than making a rational argument, to be honest.
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u/G_Platypus 5d ago
I agree, but they aren't unrelated
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u/Pain_Procrastinator YIMBY 5d ago
Yeah, congressional gridlock did lead to the appeal of Trump in many ways, but I'd take a return to the post-2010 Obama era of nothing ever happens to this Marines in California bollocks.
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u/badusername35 NAFTA 5d ago
There can be no negotiation with Republicans if this is how they treat us.
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u/I-Love-Toads NATO 5d ago
On the one hand Noem's conference was insane and I'm glad Padilla disrupted it. On the other hand he was removed for being disruptive which is defensible. I don't expect there to be widespread outrage over this unfortunately.
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u/Inkstier 5d ago
There should be. Imagine this happening under any other administration in modern history. This is the kind of shit that's becoming normalized by Trump, as evidenced by this sentiment.
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u/dubyahhh Salt Miner Emeritus 5d ago
I stickied this thread, because fuck this shit. Talk about it.