The treatment of Alex Padilla is part of a pattern of harassing Donald Trump’s opposition.
Like knowing the names of lots of federal judges, widespread familiarity with specific theories of authoritarian rule is not generally a hallmark of a healthy society. But as the United States’ vital signs get more dire, Steven Levitsky’s and Lucan A. Way’s concept of “competitive authoritarianism” feels unsettlingly relevant.
The idea came to mind again when federal officers manhandled and then handcuffed Senator Alex Padilla, a California Democrat, yesterday as he tried to ask a question of Kristi Noem, the secretary of Homeland Security, at a press conference in Los Angeles.
Because it took place at a media event, the incident was recorded clearly on video, and it’s shocking. Nearly as disturbing as the footage is the fact that even though the incident is on tape, the Trump administration attempted to lie baldly about what happened. Officials said Padilla never identified himself as a senator and that security personnel thought he was an attacker; video shows him audibly identifying himself and wearing a U.S. Senate shirt. They said he lunged at Noem; video shows nothing of the sort. (If only Noem’s security detail had been so vigilant when her purse was stolen in April.)
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