‘Political Theater!’ Kristi Noem Blames Senator Padilla for Getting Himself Manhandled By Agents in Stunning Fox News Interview
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem blamed Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) for the stunning confrontation in which he was forcibly ejected by Secret Service and FBI personnel from her press conference.
In a shocking interview with Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum on The Story Thursday, Noem blasted the senator and fully defended the actions of the Secret Service and FBI personnel who shoved him out of the room, forced him to the floor, and handcuffed him.
“This man burst into the room, started lunging towards the podium, interrupting me and elevating his voice and was stopped, did not identify himself and was removed from the room,” Noem said. “So as soon as he identified himself, appropriate actions were taken.”
Video from the incident seems to counter Noem’s claim. Secret Service and FBI personnel can be seen wrestling the senator out of the room even after he identified himself.
Noem said she and Padilla spoke privately after the clash, but she proceeded to denounce his actions as “political theater.”
“I would have loved to have sat down and had a conversation with him,” Noem said. “Coming into a press conference like this is political theater. It’s wrong, and it does a disservice to this country and the people who live here.”
MacCallum played comments from several Democratic members of Congress condemning the manhandling of Padilla and demanding answers. Noem rejected the criticism and put blame for the incident squarely on the senator..
“This man burst into a room, started advancing towards the podium, interrupting an opening statement, elevating his voice, shouting questions,” Noem said. “People tried to stop him from interrupting the press conference. He refused and continued to lunge towards the podium. And that is when he was removed from the room. So the way that he acted was completely inappropriate. It wasn’t becoming of a U.S. Senator or a public official.”
Watch above, via Fox News.
