‘Disgusting’: Republican Senator Rips Federal Agents Who ‘Wrestled’ U.S. Senator to the Floor, Urges Civility From Politicians
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) gave an impassioned speech on the Senate floor on Wednesday, denouncing federal agents detaining and wrestling Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) to the floor as “disgusting” – while also urging leaders to act with restraint and civility instead of trying to “trend on social media by getting in somebody’s face.”
“Mr. President, the last thing I’m going to leave you with is, I sat on this floor yesterday while Senator Padilla was speaking. And I have to tell you that the events that occurred, and I’m saying this because now I hear about a dustup in New York, folks, Alex Padilla, I consider a friend,” began Tillis, referring to New York City mayoral candidate Brad Lander’s detention on Tuesday.
“And I believe that he was very, very… His emotions were at a 10 because of some of the things that he’s seen occurring in terms of ICE detention, ICE raids. I agree and disagree with him on some of the policy, but folks, we’ve got to get to a point where elected officials have to take some responsibility for their actions,” Tillis insisted, adding:
And we have press conferences here all the time. We have a weekly press conference out here with leadership. We’ve got a press room on the third floor. I wonder if we’re actually saying it’s okay for me to run out here and interrupt Senator Schumer while he’s giving his opening statements to a presser to ask him a question. I think that that’s inappropriate. I think it would be inappropriate to do it to my Democrat colleagues up in the press room, on the 3rd floor.
I think it would be inappropriate for me to go out and do that out in the field. So I guess what I’m trying to say here is why don’t both sides own up to the fact that they both own some responsibility for what happened there? Senator Padilla should have found a better way to elevate his concerns to the Secretary of Homeland Security rather than going in there and having that dust-up.
Having said that, there were clearly people in that building that knew he was a U.S. Senator. So the minute he was removed from that situation in that briefing room, then they should have treated him with respect and allowed him to disperse. It was disgusting to me to see somebody wrestled to the floor, anybody, but particularly a U.S. Senator that’s in a federal building. So I would just say to those who are tempted now to think that they can act like they’re off the hinges and they should interrupt a press conference or threaten police officials to arrest them, to think twice, step up and be leaders.
If you got a point, don’t go try and trend on social media by getting in somebody’s face. Make a point. You want to make a point, that’s what you do. You want to make a difference, then come to the Senate floor and try to figure out how to get your policies through. That’s how this place should work. Thank you, Mr. President.
Watch above via C-SPAN.
