Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) used his official Spanish-language response to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday night to make unsubstantiated claims that Trump is preparing to use Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to “manipulate” the midterm elections.
Sen. Padilla’s address was one of two official responses to the State of the Union on Tuesday, alongside that of Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger. While Padilla’s was intended to be the Spanish-language response, he veered into English on several occasions and used strange grammatical constructions in others, attempting to identify with his audience by referencing Puerto Rican musician Bad Bunny and “faith” and church.
The California senator – previously perhaps best known for his belligerent interruption, and ultimate expulsion, from a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) press conference in June – recalled the incident, framing it as alleged evidence of abuse of power by President Trump.
“Maybe they took me down for a moment, but then I got up later later [sic],” he offered.
While repeatedly condemning ICE operations to detain and deport people illegally present in the United States, Sen. Padilla compared the current moment for Latin Americans to Japanese internment camps, the Chinese Exclusion Act, segregation laws in the South, and discrimination against the Irish and Italians in the early 1900s.
Notably absent from Sen. Padilla’s speech, which attempted to paint a bleak picture of life for Hispanics in the second Trump administration, was any mention of Trump’s widely popular decision to arrest Venezuelan socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro or of his decision to appoint the first Hispanic secretary of state in American history, Sec. Marco Rubio.
Sen. Padilla opened his remarks by claiming that Trump spent the State of the Union “lying,” then immediately accused Trump of having “plans to manipulate the elections this November.”
“Trump wants to manipulate the next elections,” Sen. Padilla repeated, adding in English, “that’s right: Donald Trump is trying to steal the midterm elections.”
“He has signed executive orders with the intention of preventing millions of eligible voters from exercising their right to vote,” the senator claimed, “and he has insinuated the use of ICE agents at voting centers to intimidate. These are tactics we have seen in other countries governed by corrupt dictators.”
Sen. Padilla did not offer any evidence for any of these claims, such as naming the executive orders in question or what they do that belies the “intention” of blocking votes. In reality, the White House has denied rumors of alleged plans to deploy ICE to voting centers on Election Day.
Sen. Padilla repeatedly referred to “chaos” under Trump and described America as being in a state of fear and panic.
“We are living a nightmare that divides and destroys our communities,” he alleged. “Instilling fear in people is not leadership.”
The senator also accused ICE agents of racism, arguing, “The state of our union does not feel strong for all… When federal agents, armed and masked, terrorize our communities, attacking people for the color of their skin or for speaking Spanish.”
Sen. Padilla attempted to conclude on a hopeful note, quoting Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show football reading, “Together, we are America,” and rallying listeners to organize marches and vote.
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