Thom Tillis reacts to handcuffing of fellow Sen. Alex Padilla. What he said.
Welcome back to Under the Dome. It’s Monday, and that means it’s Danielle Battaglia with the latest news about President Donald Trump.
Most of North Carolina’s congressional delegation is backing Trump on his decision to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities. Reactions mostly fell along partisan lines. Find out more in this story from Josh Shaffer, including which lawmaker’s reaction didn’t follow that pattern.
Trump got a win this past week when a panel of appellate judges unanimously sided with the president that he had authority to call in the National Guard to respond to immigration protests in Los Angeles. The panel was made up of two judges appointed by Trump and one appointed by former President Joe Biden. The ruling overturns a lower court’s decision that the protests weren’t severe enough for Trump to take federal control.
I’m sure by now you’ve seen the viral video of Sen. Alex Padilla, a Democrat from California, being forcefully removed from a Los Angeles news conference by Trump’s Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, after Padilla tried to ask a question about the immigration raids that led to the protests. That’s what we’ll look at in today’s newsletter.
Padilla’s version
Padilla addressed the situation on the Senate floor this week, and I was in the chamber to hear what he had to say.
Padilla said he had permission from an FBI agent and a National Guardsman to be present at the news conference while he waited for it to wrap up. He had a previously scheduled meeting in the same building with a military general.
Padilla said he was caught off guard to hear Noem say, “The purpose of federal law enforcement and the purpose of the United States military was to, quote, ‘liberate Los Angeles from our governor and our mayor,’” Padilla said, quoting Noem. Padilla added: “To somehow liberate us from the very people that we democratically elected to lead our city and our state.”
Padilla added that he saw that as very “un-American.”
And that led him to try to ask a question.
“Before I could even get out my question, I was physically and aggressively forced out of the room,” Padilla said.
He added that he repeatedly announced he was a U.S. senator and the two men who allowed him into the news conference stood by silently saying nothing to help him. He also was wearing a polo shirt given to U.S. senators with a U.S. Senate logo on it at the time of his detention.
“I was pushed and pulled, struggling to maintain my balance,” Padilla said. “I was forced to the ground, forced on my knees and then flat on my chest,” Padilla said. “And as I was handcuffed and marched down hallways repeatedly asking, ‘why am I being detained,’ not once did they tell me why.
“I pray you never have a moment like this,” Padilla said.
Padilla was emotional as he retold the story.
Tillis’ thoughts
Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican from Huntersville, was in the chamber as Padilla spoke and gave his own speech on the incident a day later.
He said he considers Padilla a friend, and believes Padilla’s “emotions were at a level 10” when he arrived in Los Angeles because of what he had been witnessing about the ICE detentions and raids.
“We have to get to a point where elected officials have to take some responsibility for their actions,” Tillis said. “We have press conferences here all the time. We have weekly press conferences out here with leadership. We have a pressroom on the third floor. I’m wondering if we’re actually saying it’s OK for me to interrupt Sen. (Chuck) Schumer while he is giving statements to the press or to ask questions.
“I think it’s inappropriate,” Tillis said.
He said both sides need to own up to the fact that they “both own some responsibility for what happened.”
Tillis said Padilla should have found a better way to bring his concerns to Noem.
“Having said that, there were people in that building who knew he was a U.S. senator,” Tillis said. “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.”
He said he was disgusted by what he saw.
But he added that no senator should try to trend on social media by interrupting a press conference and Padilla should have come to the floor with legislation to make change instead.
Other stories from the week
▪ The One Big Beautiful Bill Act took aim at the tobacco industry in North Carolina. Tillis and Sen. Ted Budd fought back. Read more from me here.
▪ North Carolina’s electoral maps are back before the courts with Republicans accused of racially gerrymandering the districts. Kyle Ingram has more.
▪ The NAACP always invites the president to its national convention, until now. The convention will be held in Charlotte this year. Damenica Ellis has more.
▪ North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein, a Democrat, and South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, a Republican, teamed up against Trump’s plan to drill for oil off the Carolina coasts. Both have concerns about what drilling would do to the states’ coastal economies. Martha Quillin has more.
▪ House Republicans put at risk at least five hospitals in North Carolina due to proposed funding cuts in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Evan Moore explains why.
▪ Democratic state Rep. Julie von Haefen offered an apology from the House floor this week after posting to social media a photograph of a protester who appeared to be encouraging Trump’s beheading. The post came the same day as two lawmakers and their spouses were shot in Minnesota by a gunman in an act of political violence. Ronni Butts explains.
▪ Researchers at UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke University wait to hear if their federal grant money will be reinstated after a judge ruled that the Trump administration illegally cut those funds, Brian Gordon and Amber Hazzard report.
Don’t forget, we want to hear from our readers, if Trump’s new policies are having a personal impact on you. You can fill out the form we created to get in touch with our staff and tell us your personal stories.
That’s it for now. Be kind to each other. And check back tomorrow for the Under the Dome podcast newsletter.
And if you have any feedback or tips for this new edition of the newsletter feel free to reach out to me directly at dbattaglia@mcclatchydc.com.
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This story was originally published June 23, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Thom Tillis reacts to handcuffing of fellow Sen. Alex Padilla. What he said.."
