Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) chided Vice President JD Vance on Saturday morning after Vance referred to the California senator as “Jose” during a press conference in Los Angeles on Friday evening.
Vance’s remark and the ensuing backlash are the latest squabble in the long-running conflict between the Trump administration and California Democrats as tension mounts over President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration in Los Angeles and throughout the country.
“He knows my name,” Padilla told MSNBC. “Look, sadly, it’s just an indicator of how petty and unserious this administration is. He’s the vice president of the United States. You’d think he’d take the situation in Los Angeles more seriously.”
Vance made the comment during a visit to Los Angeles to meet with federal law enforcement and Marines called in by Trump to curb violent riots that ensued following Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids throughout the city.
“I was hoping Jose Padilla would be here to ask a question, but, unfortunately, I guess he decided not to show up because there wasn’t the theater,” Vance said, referencing Padilla’s handcuffing at a press briefing with Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem last week.
Taylor Van Kirk, spokesperson for Vance, told reporters on Friday that the vice president “must have mixed up two people who have broken the law.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) chimed in on social media Friday evening, decrying Vance’s choice of words.
“JD Vance served with Alex Padilla in the United States Senate,” Newsom posted on X. “Calling him ‘Jose Padilla’ is not an accident.”
Newsom has been feuding with the Trump administration in recent weeks following Trump’s decision to call in the National Guard to southern California to, as the president argues, prevent rioters from burning the city down in protest of ICE.
The California governor later challenged Vance to a debate in person, goading the VP into “saying it to my face” instead of criticizing him at press conferences and online.
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Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass mirrored Newsom’s comment, saying that Vance greatly disrespected Padilla.
“I guess he just looked like anybody to you, but he’s not just anybody to us. He is our senator,” Bass said on X.
