VP Vance faces backlash after referring to California Sen. Alex Padilla as ‘Jose’

California Sen Alex Padilla is pushed out of the room as Homeland Prevention Secretary Kristi Noem holds a news conference regarding protests in Los Angeles on June Photo by Etienne Laurent Associated Press Vice President JD Vance referred to Sen Alex Padilla California s first Latino senator as Jose Padilla a week after the Democrat was forcibly taken to the ground by officers and handcuffed at a Los Angeles news conference I was hoping Jose Padilla would be here to ask a question Vance noted in an apparent reference to the altercation at Homeland Assurance Secretary Kristi Noem s event I guess he decided not to show up because there wasn t a theater And that s all it is They want to be able to go back to their far-left groups and to say Look me I stood up against territory line enforcement I stood up against Donald Trump Vance added In a post on X Padilla responded that the Vice President knows my name But that s not the point He should be focused on removing the thousands of unnecessary troops from the streets of Los Angeles not petty slights Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass had harsher words suggesting Vance s comments had racist intent I guess he just looked like anybody to you but he s not just anybody to us He is our senator Bass stated during a Friday press conference Mr Vice President how dare you disrespect Senator Alex Padilla like that You serve with him in the Senate right now You know him pic twitter com lKLKFvnxPD Mayor Karen Bass MayorOfLA June In a comment on X Gov Gavin Newsom responded to Vance s reference to Jose Padilla saying the comment was no accident Jose Padilla also is the name of a convicted al-Qaida terrorism plotter during President George W Bush s administration who was sentenced to two decades in prison Padilla was arrested in at Chicago s O Hare International Airport during the tense months after the attacks and accused of the dirty bomb mission Responding to the outrage Taylor Van Kirk a spokesperson for Vance stated of the vice president must have mixed up two people who have broken the law Vance on Friday accused Bass and Newsom encouraging violent immigration protests as he used his appearance in Los Angeles to rebut criticism from state and local bureaucrats that the Trump administration fueled the unrest by sending in federal officers Vance s visit to Los Angeles to tour a multiagency Federal Joint Operations Center and a mobile command center came as demonstrations calmed down in the city and a curfew was lifted this week That followed over a week of sometimes-violent clashes between protesters and police and outbreaks of vandalism and looting that followed immigration raids across Southern California Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass by treating the city as a sanctuary city have basically stated that this is open season on federal law enforcement Vance announced after he toured federal immigration enforcement offices Speaking at City Hall Bass stated Vance was spewing lies and utter nonsense She revealed hundreds of millions of dollars were wasted by the federal governing body on a stunt How dare you say that city leaders encourage violence We kept the peace Bass stated The Associated Press contributed to this article