Vice President JD Vance came under fire on Friday for referring to Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) as "Jose Padilla" during a speech in California — mixing up the name of the senator with a notorious terrorist convicted of planning a radiological bomb attack.
Vance's press secretary, Taylor Van Kirk, then fanned the flames in response to the criticism.
“He must have mixed up two people who have broken the law," Van Kirk said, according to Daily Wire White House correspondent Mary Margaret Olohan.
Her flippant response didn't sit well with one prominent immigration attorney.
"What a despicable comment from his press secretary. Jose Padilla is a convicted terrorist," wrote American Immigration Council senior fellow Aaron Reichlin-Melnick.
Padilla was thrust into the national spotlight earlier this month when he was tackled and arrested by federal agents in the middle of trying to ask questions at a news conference being held by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. This followed the Trump administration's decision to send in the military to put down protests in Los Angeles against Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids of local workplaces.
"Over the course of several weeks several of my colleagues have been asking the Department of Homeland Security for more information ... and we've gotten little to no information in response to our inquiries," Padilla stated at the time, shortly after being released following the incident.
