New York Democratic Representative John Mannion criticized his Republican colleague Mike Lawler, telling him to "get some f**king balls" during a blowup confrontation on the House floor after California Democratic Senator Alex Padilla was forcibly removed from Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem's press conference and handcuffed.
Padilla said he had "questions for the secretary" at Noem's press conference addressing President Donald Trump's deployment of members of the National Guard, and later the Marines, to stop protests in Los Angeles against the Trump administration's immigration raids.
Footage of the incident shows that Noem spoke over Padilla; he was then taken into a hallway and pushed face down onto the ground by officers wearing FBI vests, who ordered him to put his hands behind his back before handcuffing him.
You can watch what happened in the video below.
Earlier, Mannion attracted attention outside the U.S. Capitol when he shouted at members of the media to "hold them [the Trump administration] accountable," urging them not to "cover the distractions ... that lead us to authoritarianism." And later, as Lawler, Mannion's fellow New Yorker, spoke to another colleague, Mannion demanded Lawler take action.
He said:
"This is f**kng madness, man. We’ve had enough. You've got to do something. Stand up. F**king get over there and get some f**king balls.'"
“Tell them. Tell them. You know who I am. You know who I am, a New Yorker just like you. The country’s falling apart.”
Lawler was defensive:
"F*** you ... I have no idea what you're talking about."
You can watch what happened in the video below.
Lawler later called Mannion’s conduct “entirely unhinged and unprofessional," saying Mannion had engaged in "a shameful display that exposed his complete lack of temperament."
Mannion’s office issued a statement defending his actions, citing Padilla’s arrest and the recent immigration raids as part of the Trump administration’s push to fulfill its pledge of mass deportations:
“I’m a kid from Tipp Hill that’s fighting for my hometown and my country. I’m giving everything I have to stop the rise of authoritarian government and the destruction of American democracy."
"If making some noise on the House floor and calling out Trump enablers draws attention to what’s happening to our country right before our eyes — good. Today it’s roughing up and handcuffing a United States Senator and a politicized military patrolling the streets of American cities.”
Many have come to Mannion's defense and criticized Lawler in response.
A senior House Democrat who spoke to Axios said the House is "on edge" and that "this floor is raw ... People think they are going to come in and arrest people on the floor."
Speaker Mike Johnson was heckled by Democrats when he made remarks in support of censuring Padilla. Johnson declined to respond when asked about the outbursts; he had been accused of lying and making the "absurd" suggestion that Padilla's manhandling was justified.
Johnson told reporters that "the American people can draw their own conclusions" and claimed Padilla had been "wildly inappropriate."
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