Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg went on a rant Thursday on social media, condemning the arrest of Democratic California Sen. Alex Padilla.
Security arrested Padilla after he interrupted Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem during a press conference Thursday. Buttigieg posted a video on Instagram to express outrage and condemn the incident.
“I just saw something that made my stomach turn. Something I didn’t think that I would see, even under this administration. A United States senator pushed to the ground and handcuffed after asking questions of a federal government official,” Buttigieg said.
Buttigieg didn’t stop there.
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“Well, first of all, we name what just happened, which is that the Trump government has crossed one of the reddest of red lines that can exist in a free society. Any salute to the flag or talk of patriotism or American greatness is completely hollow. If you do not respect the freedoms that that flag represents, the Constitution that directs the course of this country, and they’ve shown what they think of those freedoms in that Constitution,” Buttigieg said.
Buttigieg also said that members of Congress must decide whether to side with an administration he deemed out of control.
“Much will depend on the courage of members of the Senate and the House, especially Republicans. This kind of thing is designed to make them more afraid. Our job as American citizens is to make sure that they realize they have more politically to lose by riding the tiger of this out-of-control administration, which will sooner or later eat them too, than going along with it,” Buttigieg added.
Buttigieg’s rant about Padilla’s arrest ignored crucial context. As Greg Gutfeld said, Padilla’s actions were not as innocent as Buttigieg suggested. Padilla lunged at Noem and failed to properly identify himself, putting security at risk. Padilla’s behavior during the DHS press conference is not something to take lightly, especially considering President Donald Trump encountered life-threatening incidents in 2024.
“So this douche thinks he can plow in after his party spent, I don’t know, how many years demonizing Trump and, by extension, supporters and his cabinet? You don’t know what security is gonna do. He was lucky he wasn’t flattened,” Gutfeld said. “If they’d acted differently, who knows what would have happened?” (RELATED: Pete Buttigieg Concedes Biden’s 2024 Run May Have Hurt Dem Party)
At a rally in Butler, Pa., 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks fired shots at Trump. Two months later, Secret Service agents apprehended 58-year-old Ryan Wesley Routh after spotting his “AK-47 style rifle with a scope” poking out of the bushes at the Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Fla.
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