Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Governor Gavin Newsom led a fierce wave of backlash from local officials on Friday, condemning Vice President JD Vance after he visited the city and delivered remarks amidst ongoing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids and protests in Southern California.
“Today, the vice president of the United States spent three or four hours in L.A. before holding a press conference and spewing lies and utter nonsense in an attempt to provoke division and conflict in our city,” said Mayor Bass to open her speech. “Unfortunately, the vice president did not take the time to learn about our city.”
Vance arrived in L.A. on Friday to tour multiple federal centers, meet with leaders and Marines and deliver remarks to the press. After talking about the community’s unrest and the increase in federal law enforcement following ongoing immigration sweeps in the area, Vance spoke on the local and state government’s actions, specifically calling out Newsom and Bass. Vance said the two leaders have actively encouraged “illegal migration” into the L.A. community and have offered benefits to immigrants who “break the law, come into our country and receive generous public assistance for having done so.”
In response to this, Bass directed her speech toward Vance, saying, “How dare you say that city officials encourage violence. We kept the peace. You know that the federal officials who were here protected a federal building; they were not involved in crowd control.”
Bass also condemned Vance and ICE for inciting fear within the community, saying federal agents dress in plain clothes, refuse to show identification and drive regular cars with tinted windows. “Who are these people? And frankly, the vests that they have on look like they ordered them from Amazon. Are they bounty hunters? Are they vigilantes?” The mayor argued that federal officials should have to identify themselves, otherwise it will continue to spread terror in the city.
“We were able to handle the violence and the vandalism that occurred,” Bass said, acknowledging the crowd control efforts by the L.A. Police Department, Sheriff’s Department and other local law enforcement. “Our streets have been peaceful, and even when there was vandalism at its height, you are talking about a couple of 100 people who were not necessarily associated with any of the peaceful protests,” said Bass.
Among expressing general disappointment in the vice president’s views and speaking points, both Bass and Newsom explicitly called out Vance for wrongly calling Senator Alex Padilla by a different name.
“How dare you disrespect our senator?” asked Bass during a press conference. “The last time I checked, the vice president of the United States is the president of the U.S. Senate. You serve with him today, and how dare you disrespect him and call him José? But I guess he just looked like anybody to you. Well, he’s not just anybody to us. He is our senator.”
Vance, in response to a question from the press requesting a comment on Trump’s immigration crackdown, had earlier replied with, “Well, I was hoping José Padilla would be here to ask a question, but unfortunately, I guess he decided not to show up because there wasn’t the theater, and that’s all it is.”
Governor Newsom shared in Bass’s remarks through an X post, pointing out that the vice president has worked with Senator Padilla. “Calling him ‘Jose Padilla’ is not an accident,” the governor claimed. Newsom’s Press Office also called the vice president’s behavior disappointing, saying that he “handpicked” which reporters were allowed into his press conference, judging “in favor of partisan influencers.”
After responding to Vance’s incorrect name-calling, Bass further challenged the vice president’s intentions. “I don’t know if you’ve ever been here before,” said the mayor. “You parachute into the city. You pass all kinds of judgment, and then you leave, and you add to the provocation. So you add to the division, or you attempt to create division in our city. But I just want you to know that our city is standing together. We are united.”
Bass gestured to the people standing around her. “Standing with me today are families, business owners, community leaders, representatives, and nothing you can do will divide us.”
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