'Republicans Would Be Out Protesting' If One Of Them Were Treated The Way Padilla Was: Jamie Raskin

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) responds to the forcible removal of Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) from a DHS press briefing.

Transcript

00:00The video was absolutely sickening.

00:03It's almost unwatchable to see anybody treated that way.

00:07And to see one of my colleagues who I know well, who I have nothing but

00:11the greatest admiration for, it just made me sick.

00:14It turned my stomach.

00:16And he is owed first an apology.

00:19And then we need an investigation about how that happened and

00:22how a US senator came to be treated that way in the United States of America in the year 2025.

00:30Under the Speech and Debate Clause, we have the right to ask questions.

00:33Under the First Amendment, we have the right to ask questions.

00:37And you don't throw people to the ground and manhandle them and

00:41handcuff them simply because they ask a question.

00:45And I can guarantee you that if they had thrown Mitch McConnell to the ground like that,

00:50or John Thune to the ground like that, the Republicans would be out protesting.

00:54And I don't think any member of Congress should be treated like that simply for

00:58doing their job, whether it's a Democrat, a Republican, or an Independent.