Mayor Karen Bass targeted JD Vance on Friday for comments he made during his visit to Los Angeles, criticising the vice president for “sinning a lie” and disrespecting Senator Alex Padilla.
The intense exchange comes hours after the Vice President’s own press conference. There, both Mayor Bass and Gov. Gavin Newsom have taken jabs, claiming their decisions and policies are “putting federal employees at risk.”
“The US vice president spent three or four hours in Los Angeles before holding a press conference, lying and uttering total nonsense to spark the division and conflict in our city,” Bass said. “This coincides with the provocation from Washington that began two weeks ago. Our city is calm and millions of Angelenos work and contribute to our city.”
The mayor also criticized Vance for calling Sen. Alex Padilla “Jose Padilla.”
“Do you dare to downplay our senator? You don’t know his name, but you still served with him before becoming Vice President, and you will continue to serve him today. “You served with him today, and you can dare to downplay him and call him Jose, but I think he could have seen anyone to you.
The mayor emphasized that the protests Vance had criticized were mostly peaceful and that the city had been quiet since the streets had become quiet.
“Even when there was vandalism at the top of it, you were talking about hundreds of people that were not necessarily related to peaceful protests,” Bass said. “Los Angeles is a 500-square-mile city, and the chaos took place in about two square miles of our city. The most common, over 100 people have been arrested. We are a city of 3.8 million people.”
Base added that the Vice President’s message on Friday was an attempt to “split and cause conflict in our cities.”
Governor Newsom also responded to the Vice President’s comments and challenged the Vance of debate.
Hey @jdvance – I’m glad you finally went to California.
You are so eager to me, why not say that to my face?
Let’s discuss it. Time and location?
– Gavin Newsom (@gavinnewsom) June 20, 2025
Vice President JD Vance doubled the need to federalize US troops in Los Angeles on Friday after meeting with federal law enforcement agencies at the epicenter of the White House’s recent immigration enforcement action.
“Unfortunately, soldiers and Marines are worried that (protests) will rekindle, so we’ve all heard from everyone that this is a necessary part of what’s going on here,” the vice president added that the “riot” has settled down.
While the Trump administration repeatedly reinvigorated the US military to protect the city, Vance claimed that federal agents and military personnel in Los Angeles had a “morale problem” because he felt unwelcome to work in the city.
The vice president denounced Democratic leaders, including Governor Newsom and Mayor Bass, while visiting LA. The video aired during NBC4 News on Friday, June 20, 2025 at 3pm.
“(a) When Border Patrol agents go out to work, within 15 minutes of trying to do their job, they have protesters, sometimes violent protesters in their faces, preventing them from doing their work and putting their lives at risk,” Vance said. “These people laid eggs by local officials Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass.”
