Democrats were quick to circle the wagons around Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) after his dramatic removal from a Homeland Security press conference with Secretary Kristi Noem. Virtually all the Democrats pulled out their smartphones to declare it a grave injustice — another supposed example of Trump-era tyranny — and wasted no time turning Padilla into some kind of folk hero.
The public show of support was loud and clearly coordinated. Democrats lined up to defend Padilla’s antics, using the incident as yet another excuse to take aim at President Trump and his administration. It was all very convenient — and very calculated.
But behind the scenes, it’s a different story. Quietly, some Democrats are less than thrilled about how the whole thing played out. They’re concerned that the spectacle doesn’t exactly help their cause, especially since the response to Padilla’s press conference stunt broke down entirely along party lines. No surprise there.
The fear is simple: staging political theater to score headlines might excite the base, but it turns off everyone else.
The Hill has more:
In interviews Friday, these Democrats didn’t want to speak on the record given that officials in their party are publicly unanimous in backing Padilla.
But these sources say they fear the Padilla incident could have negative ramifications as the party tries to find its way back from their devastating loss in November.
“Here’s the thing: Did it change anyone’s minds or did it just rev up the base?” said one Democratic strategist worried the incident could backfire on their party.
“This is what we don’t understand. We think these moments will cause outrage, but they miss the point. It’s not swaying anyone. It just makes us look petty.”
Some Democrats said the moment was political theater that would just become another thing for red and blue America to disagree over.
“I’m not sure it stands out, especially as more Democrats begin to take a stand,” a second party strategist said. “Let’s put it this way, it’s a zero-sum game.”
So while Democrat leaders won’t admit it publicly, they know Padilla’s stunt risks backfiring and making them look like opportunists more interested in creating viral moments than governing. And, of course, they were happy to partake in the opportunism. Not even 24 hours had passed before Padilla and his Democrat allies were shamelessly using the incident to rake in cash and score political points.
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“If that’s what they do to a United States senator with a question, imagine what they do to farm workers, day laborers, cooks…” Padilla wrote in a breathless fundraising email, exploiting the moment with all the subtlety of a late-night infomercial. He wants you to believe he’s the humble voice of the voiceless, while cashing in on a publicity stunt he clearly orchestrated.
Not to be outdone, Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) chimed in with his own fundraising pitch, calling Padilla “one of the most decent people.” The Democratic National Committee took it even further, declaring that the incident was “a step toward authoritarianism.” Right — because being escorted out after interrupting a press conference is apparently how dictatorships begin.
Something tells me that even with quiet acknowledgment that Padilla’s little performance may have backfired, Democrats have no plans to change course. According to the report, “Democrats are anxious to stand up to Trump and the GOP,” and the party believes its base is hungry to see more of this kind of so-called “fight.”
Expect more stunts, more outrage, more political theater. They know it looks bad to swing voters. They know it reeks of desperation. But the far-left base is addicted to these spectacles, and party leadership is more than happy to keep feeding the addiction.
So don’t expect anything to change. If anything, Padilla’s press conference meltdown is a preview of what’s coming — louder, angrier, and even more staged. Democrats have convinced themselves that viral outrage is a strategy. And even when it blows up in their faces, they double down.
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