ESPN host Stephen A. Smith blasted Sen. Alex Padilla on Thursday for disrupting a DHS press conference. The California Democrat was forcibly removed and briefly handcuffed after interrupting Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s remarks.
Smith didn’t mince words. On his show, The Stephen A. Smith Show, he questioned Padilla’s judgment and professionalism.
“Can Kristi Noem speak? Could you have waited till she finished to ask your questions — to shout your questions?” Smith asked. “You are a senator, right? You couldn’t wait? So that was just you out of control because you were just losing it, huh?”
He continued, “You — a United States senator — couldn’t compose yourself and let the head of Homeland Security finish her thoughts before you asked a question? Couldn’t do that, huh? Couldn’t do it, huh?”
Later, Smith answered his own rhetorical questions. “We all know you could have waited for her to finish speaking.” He then clarified that while Padilla deserved to be removed, the handcuffs went too far.
“They had no business putting cuffs on Senator Padilla. Escorting him out of the room — even forcibly — was within bounds. The secretary for Homeland Security was speaking. You let her finish,” Smith said.
“You don’t want to let her finish? Then hey, they definitely should have removed you from the room. That is it. They didn’t need to put you on the ground. They didn’t need to handcuff you. All they needed to do was keep you out of the room.”
Padilla began shouting questions at Noem while she addressed the riots in Los Angeles. Security quickly surrounded him, told him to raise his hands, and took him down outside the room.
Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at DHS, addressed the incident on X. “Senator Padilla chose disrespectful political theatre and interrupted a live press conference without identifying himself or having his Senate security pin on as he lunged toward Secretary Noem,” she wrote.
“Mr. Padilla was told repeatedly to back away and did not comply with officers’ repeated commands,” she added. “@SecretService thought he was an attacker and officers acted appropriately.”
Despite the clash, the two officials later met privately. McLaughlin confirmed they had a 15-minute conversation afterward.