Ben Shapiro Pummels Democrats Over Padilla Stunt: ‘5-Year-Olds’ ‘Desperate For Mommy’s Attention’

Democratic strategy to beating President Donald Trump and the GOP revolves around “attention-seeking,” according to Daily Wire Editor Emeritus Ben Shapiro.

The latest evidence of Shapiro’s theory came Thursday and involved Democratic Sen. Alex Padilla, who was handcuffed after unexpectedly barging into a press conference for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Shapiro called Padilla’s actions “insanity” and said law enforcement on the scene acted appropriately to stop what they believed to be a security risk.

“[Padilla] basically just rushed in and started yelling at her, yelling at her questions, and security appears not to know who he is,” said Shapiro. “They don’t know him from Adam. It’s not like he cleared his presence with security.”

Padilla crashed a press conference Noem gave in Los Angeles regarding ongoing Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations in the area. Padilla’s brief detainment has drawn loud condemnations from Democrats who claim to be holding the Trump administration accountable.

The stunt is the latest in a string of Democratic antics designed to draw attention, but that have little real impact, according to Shapiro.

“Let’s be clear: Democrats are all looking for attention right now. Everything is about attention-seeking,” he said. “If you think of Democrats, at this point, as a series of 5-year-olds who are desperate for mommy’s attention, then their behavior starts to make a lot more sense.”

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Shapiro cited New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, who set a record for the longest filibuster speech in U.S. Senate history in April. The Daily Wire host also named Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who appeared to mimic the motion of being in handcuffs while she was arrested for blocking traffic outside the Supreme Court in 2022.

“The Democrats are solely reliant still on this idea that whoever resists Trump the most strongly wins, that all you have to do is just yell at orange man bad and yell at members of the orange-man-bad cabinet, and that will somehow result in a magical victory for Democrats,” Shapiro continued.

“I don’t know what they’re thinking,” he said. “They’ve tried this now for a full decade. If your strategy isn’t working after a full decade, you might want to try a different strategy.”

Attention seeking behavior by @SenAlexPadilla does not amount to a political win. pic.twitter.com/pwhxnwAus2

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) June 12, 2025