Breaking News from Pod Save America - Alex Padilla Shuts Down Trump's Lies After Being Tackled By Federal Agents

Episode Date: June 13, 2025

Alex Padilla joins Tommy Vietor to discuss Donald Trump’s lies about LA, Trump’s use of the military in the United States, and being tackled by federal agents for asking a question at a press conference. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Senator Pia, thank you so much for being here. Thanks for having me. Short notice. Yeah, it was an unexpected, a day for you. So, hoping we just start with kind of what happened today. You were at a federal building for a briefing on immigration policy from some military officials or DHS officials. You learned Secretary Nome was holding a press conference. You wanted to get more information.

Can you sort of walk us through what happened after? Sure, sure. And part of this is going to be sort of a fact-checking, right? And setting the record straight because already the misinformation, is coming from the secretary in the Department of Homeland Security. So first of all, I was in the federal building in Los Angeles for a scheduled briefing with representatives from Northern Command. Part of the concern about what's been transpiring in Los Angeles last week

is a continued escalation on behalf of the administration, right? No need for National Guard. The mayor has said so, the governor has said so, local law enforcement has said so. So what does Donald Trump do? federalizes 2,000 National Guard troops and deploys them here. Takes a lot of work, a lot of coordination at the local level to try to get our arms around the, not the peaceful protest during the day, but the vandalism and graffiti, et cetera, at night, which, you know, we denounce, has no place.

It distracts from core messaging. And these are getting a little bit better each and every day. And so what does Donald Trump do? Now he's activating Marines. So at every turn since we've been, since January 20th, frankly, we keep asking the administration, we keep asking departments for more information as to what they're doing, what the justification is. Finally get a scheduled briefing today at the federal building. So that's why I'm there. And like any secure federal building you show up, you go through screening initially.

I'm literally being escorted by a National Guard's member and an FBI agent. We're in a conference room waiting for the briefing. there's chatter about a potential press conference because Secretary Nome's in town. Can't make this stuff up. Door to the conference room's open, and who would we see walking down the hall? The secretary and her detail.

Surprise, surprise, they're having a press conference. And now our briefing is delayed because some of the people we expect to be talking to are in that press conference. So as we're waiting, waiting. I say, well, they haven't been responding to our inquiries and our letters. Maybe we go listen in and see

if they have anything new to say. So I asked the folks that are escorting us, give me, go to sit in the press conference. They escort us over to the press conference. They opened the door for me. I'm standing in the back, trying to listen. I don't want to get in front of the cameras or in front of the reporters.

And just the rhetoric is too much. Not the first time, but the second time, they claim that Donald Trump and Secretary of him is here to liberate the people of Los Angeles from the governor and from the mayor. That's when I spoke. I had a question to ask. I want to call them out on their misinformation.

Anybody who's seen the video knows that I repeatedly introduced myself. They knew who I was. I was not lunging at the secretary. I was halfway through the back of the room on one side. Trying to get a question out, but it took all of maybe half a second for multiple agents to be on me. And you've seen the video. Shved out the door.

And before I know it, I'm on my knees. I'm on the ground getting handcuffs. There's been so much attention on the way you were treated rightly, I believe, that I think people are missing what she said that led you to speak up, which I'm just going to read the quote. We are not going away. We are staying here to liberate this city from the socialist and burdensome leadership that this governor Newsom and this mayor placed on this country. Is that the mission of the Department of Homeland Security to liberate Americans from our representatives? It's not the mission of the Department of Homeland Security. It's certainly not the mission of the Marines or anybody in the Department of Defense. To the contrary, right? I'm in regular contact, especially in weeks like this, with Sheriff Lewin of Los Angeles County, Sheriff Chief McDonald from the Los Angeles Police Department, from their expertise.

They're frustrated because the lack of communication and transparency by the federal government has made their jobs even harder, right? Los Angeles is no stranger to protest and demonstrations and rallies and marches and whatnot. They know how to handle this, but the presence and the hostility of the, the administration is what's fanning the flames. This is a crisis of Trump's own making.

But we know why. Multiple reasons. Number one, bad news all around. There's no peace between Russia and Ukraine. There's no solution in Gaza. There's the impact of the tariff wars because he's failing at every turn. He's broken up with his BFF Elon Musk. And so what does he do?

He always finds a distraction. And when all else fails, he goes back to demonizing and scapegoating immigrants. there's a horrible budget bill working its way through Congress, right? As we were successful in letting people know, what this could mean for your health care, what this could mean for housing, what this could mean for the social safety net, and all for what, to fund additional tax breaks for billionaires? He creates a crisis to get us all talking about something else, let alone the increasing cruelty with which these immigration enforcement operations are happening.

Now, I want to be clear, I know it's been a big dialogue amongst us. us, we're not for open borders, we're for a secure border, an orderly border, a humane border. If Donald Trump was truly only targeting violent criminals, dangerous criminals, there would be no debate. There would be no disagreement. But what we see in practice, and we've seen it since January 20th, and we see it especially in the Los Angeles region this last week, is story after story of maybe somebody who happens to be undocumented, but as a long-term resident, hardworking, paying taxes, raising families. we're talking, you know, people who work in restaurants, people who work in car washes, day laborers outside, you know, Home Depot and Lowe's or farm workers. Ventura County is not that far from here.

Those aren't the violent criminals that he is talking about. And so we're trying to shed light on what is and what isn't happening. They haven't offered proper justification for these moves. So, yes, I get a little worked up when I hear the misinformation, the spin, the rhetoric that we hear nonstop from the administration, but for having the audacity to speak up, look what they did. And what worries me even more is if they can do this to United States Senator, imagine what they're doing out there when the cameras are not on

and what they're capable of doing in any corner of the country, unless or until they're checked. Yeah, and you represent the state. I live in Los Angeles. It's been so frustrating to watch the story of, what's happening in LA kind of play out in the media and just didn't know how wrong it is. Because I don't know anyone, I'm not hearing anyone talk about being scared of the protests or the protesters. But I'm hearing, I personally know people and I have a lot of friends of friends who are terrified about the impact that ICE is having on communities in Los Angeles, especially the Latino community.

Like there's people, we're hearing reports of nannies getting snatched up in parks and, you know, you're watching farm workers get chased through fields. And, you know, the horrible scenes outside that Home Depot. I mean, can you just help people outside of California understand the climate of fear that these ice enforcements are creating here? Yeah, well, first, a little geography and then a little diversity, right? Geography, because I have some colleagues, mostly on the other side of the aisle back in Washington, who would think Los Angeles is just entirely up in flames. No, no, that was January. What's happening right now, yes, there are some unacceptable images of vandalism and looting and whatnot.

It's a very small contained area of downtown L.A. I'm not saying it's not happening, but if you look at the big metropolis that is Los Angeles, the vast majority is kind of normal. I say kids are in school, but the school year's wrapping up. People are going to work. Things are calm on the valley on the west side, down to the harbor area and beyond.

It's really isolated part of downtown. So we want to put that in perspective. Second, in terms of the terror that a lot of communities are feeling. There are a lot of it. immigrants in Los Angeles. There's a lot of immigrants throughout California, mostly documented, some undocumented. Again, if this was just about violent criminals, there'd be no debate. But the lion's share of the immigrant community is not only hardworking, trying to find their American dream, like my parents. So this is personal for me. My parents came from Mexico

back in the 60s. Decades later, they became citizens only in response to Proposition 187. So when I see and hear the organizers out there marching, rallying peacefully against the cruel extreme ice raids and for the modernization of our immigration laws, for better treatment of dreamers and farm workers and others, I get it because that's my family. That's my journey. That's my experience. So the millions of families that are living it right now, nobody knows what's next. Nobody knows who's next because your story after story of, Just people being taken off the streets. You know, my dad was a cook for 40 years.

I can remember his coworkers that can imagine ICE agents showing up in a restaurant with the mood and anxiety would be in a kitchen like that. And so, again, this is classic Donald Trump, the theatrics, the spectacle, the extremism for an issue they think is a winning one for them, but one that's actually not winning in not just communities like Los Angeles, but certainly not in our nation's interest or our economic. interest, right? California, the most populous state in the nation, the most diverse state in the nation, home to more immigrants than any state in the nation. We're also the largest economy of any state in the nation, fourth largest economy in the world. That's not despite the immigrant community. That's because of the contributions of the immigrant community as workforce, as consumers, as entrepreneurs. So we're just trying to level set, you know, remind people

what's real. But if you're an immigrant, or you have somebody in your extended family or friend's circle that may happen to be undocumented, these are very fearful times right now. Yeah, it's really scary. And also, I mean, it's, I think, fearful

for a lot of Latino families in Los Angeles who are citizens or have green cards because we saw Kilmar-Obrego-Garcia gets sent to El Salvador. The administration admits it was done in error, and they don't even try to get him back until they decide they can prosecute the guy.

Right. So there's, why would anyone entrust what's happening. Right. And do process rights are out the window with these folks. Do a process that are so fundamental to our democracy. Yeah. So Secretary Noam said you guys had a 10 to 15 minute cordial and beneficial meeting and that things are okay between the two of you. Then she went on TV and seemingly repeatedly misstated what happened saying you, you know, lunch toward her or that you were interrupting or elevating her voice, claiming you didn't identify yourself when there's a video that we can all see where you're identifying yourself.

Do you think that there should be any steps taken by the Senate to maybe seek accountability for what happened? Should she resign? Like, how's your relationship with her going forward? Yeah, well, today was the first conversation we've ever had. And that's why despite being in handcuffs one minute when being offered a meeting with her, an audience with her to the next, I said yes, because I was there to do a job, right? I'm a member of the United States Senate. I have questions.

I'm requesting information. And if that's what it took to finally get an opportunity to ask those questions and get some information, then that's why I took it. It's going to shock you. Of course, no new information, nothing but the company line, same old retired rhetoric. So, yeah, 10 minutes later, we moved on. Speaker Johnson said your actions were, quote, wildly inappropriate and that you should be censured by the Senate. The White House press secretary said that you should be ashamed of your, quote, childish behavior today.

What's your response to those comments? it say about our politics in this moment that we can't just agree that a U.S. Senator shouldn't be manhandled at a press conference. Right. It's a sign of the times that we're living in, but I'm not going to back down. I'll continue to advocate as hard as I can, not just for the people of California, but the fundamental values that have built this nation. I'm taking my job seriously. So if Republicans in Congress, both the House and the Senate, Republican leaders, in both the House and the Senate are so fearful of Donald Trump that they won't call out the truth for what it is. Look, it's all on video.

You know, was that out of the line? No. Was that lunging anybody? No. I was asking a question. But again, the big takeaway here is if they're willing to, if a center asking a question scares them so much that they'll deploy agents to put a United States center in handcuffs. Imagine what they're doing to people out there, maybe subject to, an immigration rate who have a question, have a question, maybe requesting their lawyer, but not giving that opportunity. These are dangerous times for the United States of America. And, you know, the only thing I hope is a takeaway from all this, having had to talk to

my own kids throughout the day to kind of talk them down because kids are kids and you don't always understand. There's a lot of people before today that knew what was going on and cared and are engaging and organizing. There's a lot of people who were maybe oblivious to what's going on on the immigration. And maybe there's people who kind of know what's going on, but not enough to care or want to do something about it. If this changes that, if this raises awareness and moves people to say, oh, my God, I didn't

realize how bad this was, then I guess that would be a silver lining here. Yeah. I've noticed a lot of people attacking you were saying he didn't have a Senate pin on, you know, he wasn't identified, but they seemingly don't think. think about what it might be like to be a person on the street in Los Angeles and have an ice agent run up to you in plain clothes with a mask on, no identification, no badge, unmarked car. I mean, it's absolutely terrifying for people.

And by the way, for the folks who are trying to misrepresent that, let's remember, I was in a federal building, a secure federal building escorted by National Guardsman and an FBI agent. I may have my Senate pin on. the shirt. I'm still wearing the same shirt. What is it right here? You read it for your audience. It says U.S. Senate. It says U.S. Senate. And if you watched the video, I repeatedly introduced myself.

So this is all BS. This has also been on the part. And respectfully, the Secretary of Homeland Security should figure out what 100 U.S. senators look like. Right. And if not the secretary, who I reminded her in our meeting, you came through for confirmation. Right. All right. At least a secret service. Right.

You think they would know who the two senators are of the state that they're. protecting a secretary. Final question. I mean, as we've discussed, you know, you've said if this is how they can treat a U.S. Senator, imagine what's happening to farm workers and cooks and day laborers. And so many others around the country. Yeah, and so many others.

Gavin Newsom said if they can handcuff a U.S. Senator for asking a question, imagine what they'll do to you. A lot of people are going to go out and protest on Saturday. A lot of them are going to continue to do so. Probably more will be motivated to do so given what happened today than less is my guess. But I bet a lot of

lot of people are pretty nervous about it. What's your advice to them? Yeah. Look, for anybody willing to, I'm encouraging people to continue to speak up. We have First Amendment rights in this country. Speak up, protest peacefully, but continue to speak up because Donald Trump would want nothing more than for all of us to just cower away and say nothing and let him continue to abuse his power. We cannot let this be the norm. We have to speak up for our fundamental values and our fundamental rights. Senator Petit, thank you so much for coming in today and talk with me. Thank you.