Democrat Rep. Golden Criticizes Dems McIver, Padilla for ‘Politics as Theater’

Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) criticized Democrats Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ), and Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) for getting involved in incidents he labeled as  “politics as theater.”

Golden commented on the recent incident in which Padilla attempted to interrupt a press conference that Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem was giving. Padilla ended up being removed from the room and was seen being forced to the ground and handcuffed.

In a statement to Axios, Golden explained that “storming into the FBI headquarters and trying to break up a press conference and rushing” towards a cabinet member “is not really the job of an elected official.”

While Golden criticized Padilla, he admitted that it is “never good when a senator or member of Congress gets roughed up by law enforcement.”

“I don’t think politics as theater is what our job is here,” Golden told the outlet.

In a post on X, DHS explained that Padilla had “interrupted a live press conference without identifying himself,” and that he had reportedly “lunged toward” Noem. DHS added that Padilla had been instructed “repeatedly to back away” and that he did “not comply.”

“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,” DHS said. “Mr. Padilla was told repeatedly to back away and did not comply with officers’ repeated commands.”

DHS added that Secret Service thought Padilla was “an attacker and officers acted appropriately.”

Golden also commented on McIver, who was recently indicted by a federal grand jury after she reportedly stormed a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in Newark, New Jersey, in May. McIver could face up to 17 years in federal prison if found guilty.

Breitbart News reported:

On Tuesday, a federal grand jury in Newark returned an indictment against McIver, charging her with forcibly impeding and interfering with ICE agents while they were trying to arrest an illegal alien outside of Delaney Hall detention center on May 9.

In May, Noem and Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba revealed that McIver was being charged for allegedly “assaulting, resisting, and impeding law enforcement officers.”

The announcement from Noem and Habba came after McIver, and Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka (D), showed up to “conduct federal oversight” of Delaney Hall ICE detention facility,and allegedly stormed and trespassed.

“After a thorough review of the video footage of Delaney Hall and a full investigation from HSI, the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey had made the determination to charge Congresswoman LaMonica McIver for assaulting, resisting, and impeding law enforcement officers,” Noem wrote in a post on X at the time. “No one is above the law. If any person, regardless of political party, influence or status, assaults a law enforcement officer as we witnessed Congresswoman McIver do, you will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

While McIver has previously claimed that there is “no video that supports” claims that she body slammed anyone, DHS shared a video on X showing the Democrat lawmakers pushing and shoving law enforcement officials.

“Where I come from, if you shove a police officer, you’re probably getting arrested,” Golden told Axios.