Donald Trump Jr. didn’t hold back this weekend after Democratic Senator Alex Padilla made headlines for being handcuffed and dragged away by ICE agents at a heated Los Angeles event.
Padilla, California’s embattled junior senator, tried to make a scene at a Department of Homeland Security briefing with Secretary Kristi Noem. Instead, he ended up forcibly removed, cuffed, and out the door—his protest cut short. The viral video shows Padilla being tackled by ICE officers as he shouted about so-called “ICE terror” in California.
But Trump’s eldest son was quick to pounce, firing off a meme on X that read: “I don’t really care, José,” poking fun at Padilla’s attempts to grab attention. Don Jr. even used an AI photo of Vice President JD Vance wearing a sombrero and smoking a pipe, doubling down on the trolling. “Keep crying, libs,” he wrote, adding three laughing emojis for good measure.
This all started after Vice President JD Vance, fresh off a raucous RNC retreat in L.A., made waves by calling Padilla “José”—a tongue-in-cheek reference to Padilla’s grandstanding and the left’s obsession with identity politics.
“At least José Padilla’s not here to turn this into another circus,” Vance told reporters. “All these guys want is drama for the cameras.”
Keep crying, libs 🤣🤣🤣 https://t.co/1lDkHbEwJn pic.twitter.com/FSSi27iKWU
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) June 21, 2025
Padilla was quick to play the victim card, blasting Vance’s comments as “petty” during a softball MSNBC interview. “He knows my name. But it just shows how unserious this administration is,” Padilla whined. “You’d think the vice president would focus on Los Angeles instead of jokes.”
Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security wasn’t buying Padilla’s performance. A DHS spokesperson said the senator was “lunging” at Secretary Noem and trying to stage “disrespectful political theater.”
Even left-wing biographer Michael Wolff got in on the action, claiming on a podcast that President Trump “justified” the takedown because Padilla “looked like an illegal”—a jab at Padilla’s low national profile.
Padilla, undeterred, continued his grandstanding: “Maybe the vice president should spend less time mocking and more time meeting families who have suffered.”
But for many conservatives, the spectacle confirmed what they’ve long suspected—Democrats like Padilla are more interested in playing for social media than solving the border crisis.
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