Sen. Padilla rebukes Trump in Spanish State of the Union response, quotes Bad Bunny

Mathew Miranda, The Sacramento Bee on Feb 25, 2026

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U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla of California delivered a forceful rebuke to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address, accusing him of lying about the economy, trying to manipulate elections and terrorizing communities with aggressive immigration enforcement.

Padilla’s comments were released in a video speech minutes after the president completed his nationally streamed address Tuesday night. The senator’s speech, nearly all in Spanish, was in stark contrast to Trump who spent much of his record long address touting the country under his leadership.

“This is the golden age of America,” Trump said.

The majority of Americans disapprove of how Trump is handling major issues, including inflation, tariffs, immigration and the economy, according to a recent ABC News/Washington Post/Ipsos poll.

“The truth is that the state of our union does not feel strong for everyone,” Padilla said in his speech. “Not when the costs of rent, food and electricity keep rising.”

Padilla focused his comments on Trump’s anti-immigrant policies, which have led to a surge in arrests, deportations and detentions in California and across the country. He highlighted the dozens of people who have died in detention centers, two shootings of American protesters in Minneapolis last month and the ongoing large-scale immigration operations in Southern California.

“These operations began last year in Los Angeles, in my hometown, and have spread to communities in every corner of the country,” said Padilla, the top Democrat on the Senate’s border security and immigration subcommittee.

Padilla has been one of the most outspoken leaders against the federal administration’s mass deportation agenda. He was handcuffed by federal agents last June in Los Angeles and has visited multiple immigration detention centers in California to speak out against inadequate conditions.

“He is doing things we never would have imagined possible here in the United States,” Padilla said. “Donald Trump promised to improve the country and our lives, and many believed him — but we are living a nightmare that divides and destroys our communities.”

He also warned that the president is trying to “manipulate the next elections” through executive orders that he said would restrict access to the ballot and by suggesting the use of immigration agents at polling places. Padilla ended his speech by encouraging people to register to vote, make their voice “reverberate this November” and quoting popular Puerto Rican singer Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl performance.

“As Bad Bunny reminded us a few weeks ago: ‘Together, we are America,’” Padilla said. “Together, we rise, because our faith is stronger than any disappointment or any obstacle — including Trump.”

Padilla and other Democratic leaders had touted the response as a way to counter Trump’s speech, which they said would portray the country as improving. Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger delivered a Democratic response in English and dozens of Democrats in Congress chose to skip Trump’s address.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Monday that Padilla, as a son of immigrants, knows “what opportunity in America can mean.”

“His message will stand in sharp contrast to President Trump’s chaos and self-dealing,” Schumer said in a written statement.

Padilla previously served in the California Legislature and Los Angeles City Council. He became California’s first Latino senator in 2021 after Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed him to succeed then-Vice President Kamala Harris. Padilla won a full term one year later. His public rebukes of Trump stem back to his time as California’s secretary of state, when he spoke out against the president’s unsubstantiated claim that millions of people voted illegally in the 2016 presidential election.

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