Like a good and loyal member of Trump Regime Media, the Media Research Center rushed to frame Democratic Rep. Alex Padilla getting thrown out of a press conference held by homeland security secretary Kristi Noem as a stunt. Nicholas Fondacaro huffed in a June 13 post:
On Thursday, the liberal media rushed to enflame the removal of far-left Senator Alex Padilla from a DHS press conference after he namelessly rushed at Secretary Noem and fought with security. Doing his part on CNN’s The Lead, Jake Tapper refused to fact-check powerful Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth (IL) after she (twice) falsely claimed Padilla immediately identified himself; something that directly contradicted the account of Tapper’s CNN colleague he spoke to just minutes prior.
In fact, Padilla pointed out that he did not rush at Noem, was allowed to enter the presser by and was just trying to ask a question before he was physically tossed out — and video did show that he identified himself.
Mark Finkelstein pushed the right-wing “stunt” narrative in a June 15 post:
We’ve all seen public officials making the bad mistake of telling law enforcement officers who have stopped them: “Do you know who I am?”
Democrat Senator Alex Padilla of California gave a variation on that line when interviewed by Dana Bash on CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday.
Earlier this week, Padilla had staged a transparent publicity stunt when he interrupted a press conference being given by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and struggled with her security detail as he was being ushered out.
When Bash quoted a DHS spokesman saying that Padilla had tried to create a “viral moment,” he claimed, “Nothing could be further from the truth.” Riight.
Finkelstein offered no evidence that it was, in fact, a stunt — he’s just forcing his mandated bias onto the situation. He went on to sneer:
Pro De-escalation Tip For Padilla
When being detained by law enforcement, don’t continue to struggle. Comply, submit, and subsequently have your say. But Publicity Stunt Padilla wasn’t about to do that, knowing the cameras were rolling, producing some good footage for his base.
If you’re being arrested simply for asking a question as Padilla was, one might feel the need to struggle against the obvious injustice.
Alex Christy used a June 17 post to grumble over Padilla being defended:
CBS’s Stephen Colbert showed a lack of historical awareness on Monday as he welcomed Sen. Tammy Duckworth to The Late Show to lament all things related to President Trump. Colbert wondered what happens when the military is deployed to the streets, while the duo later claimed that Sen. Alex Padilla being removed from a recent press conference with DHS Secretary Kristi Noem is about “fear” because what happened to him could happen to anyone.
[…]In a second segment with Duckworth, he wondered, “On Thursday, your fellow senator, a senator from California, Alex Padilla, was handcuffed at a Homeland Security press conference after he tried to ask Kristi Noem a question. What is it like—I don’t mean for Democratic senators, any senator, to see one of their fellow senators in what’s often called the most collegial institution in the United States that he was wrestled to the ground and handcuffed after having identified himself even though he’s a U.S. Senator.”
Duckworth warned that what happened to Padilla could happen to anyone, “He was in a federal building in California in his jurisdiction, and he stood up, identified himself and said, ‘I have a question,’ and he was immediately wrestled out of the room, thrown on the ground, and handcuffed. What I am most worried about — Alex Padilla is a tough guy. I am less worried about Alex Padilla than I am about the American people. If they can do that to a U.S. Senator, what are they going to do to me when I speak up?”
[…]Padilla is not one of the more well-known senators, and he was not wearing his Senate pin, so how was security supposed to know whether he was an actual senator or just some lunatic claiming to be one? And, despite Padilla’s theatrics, he and Noem had a 15-minute private meeting afterwards, which is what he should have done in the first place. It is clear that Padilla wanted a viral video so he could beat his chest about how great of a “fighter” he is and fundraise off of it.
Jorge Bonilla huffed in a June 18 post that “Padilla got busted for trying to crash a press conference in order to ask questions without first identifying himself. Once again, ABC gaslights its public: this time, in order to further fuel anti-ICE sentiment by casting these arrested politicians as Resistance martyrs.” Alex Christy complained in a June 19 post that NBC’s Seth Meyers stated that Padilla was “approaching Noem with questions”:
Claiming that Padilla simply approached Noem with questions is not quite the whole picture. Padilla clearly intended to make a scene, and the fact that he was not wearing his Senate security pin meant it was not clear whether he was a senator or just some crazy person claiming to be one.
In the second clip, an emotional Padilla was shown on the Senate floor claiming, “I was forced to the ground. First on my knees, and then flat on my chest. And I was handcuffed and marched down a hallway, repeatedly asking, ‘Why am I being detained?’ not once did they tell me why.”
Meyers reacted, “Why—telling people why they’re getting arrested is, like, the main part of arresting. Otherwise, it’s just aggressive flirting. ‘You’re under arrest.’ ‘What for?’ ‘I don’t know. Have you been a bad boy?’ This is what it looks like to live in a police state. Everyone’s wearing masks like it’s [bleep] Eyes Wide Shut.”
If this was a real police state, neither [New York City mayoral candidate Brad] Lander nor Padilla would’ve been released without charges and free to talk about it.
If it wasn’t a police state, Padilla wouldn’t have been forcibly removed in the first place. Christy doesn’t mention that part.
Intern Shannon Sauders served up her own huffiness in a post complaining that MSNBC’s Ari Melber was defending Padilla: “A press conference presents information to the public, Melber, not an open microphone opportunity from the crowd. That was why Padilla’s flare-up was out of place.”
Christy returned to sneer once more in a June 20 post: “liberal politicians are constantly finding ways to get themselves arrested because they think it helps their brand because they know they will be released, just like Padilla was, and there is no actual risk.” Christy offered no evidence that this is what Padilla did.