Gavin Newsom appointed Alex Padilla to a U.S. Senate seat.
Posted by The John Phillips Show, Checked
- Sources
- 4 support
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 95%
The John Phillips ShowOct 17, 2026
Multiple reliable sources confirm that Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed Alex Padilla to the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Kamala Harris, announced December 22, 2020 and formally submitted January 18, 2021. The passage's 'he' refers to Newsom, so the extraction is faithful, though the sources do not address the post's claim that the appointment was a political payoff.
A guest makes this claim. Listeners heard it, so it counts against the post, and on the guest's own record.
What was said
… He needed to get all of the ethnic groups to turn out and vote for him, otherwise he was going to get kicked out of office. And he gave Shirley Weber the Secretary of State's job, so that's a plum to the blacks. And then he gave Alex Padilla the U.S. Senate seat, that's a plum to the Mexicans. And then this one opened up the attorney general opened up when Bakaria got appointed to be Secretary of Health and Education Services, and so he needed to give a plum to the Asians, and so he gave it to Baba Rabanta. …
The John Phillips Show · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. The Governor's office formally submitted the appointment of Alex Padilla to the U.S. Senate on January 18, 2021, as the first Latino U.S. senator from California.[2]
Supports. AP reported that Newsom appointed Secretary of State Alex Padilla on December 22, 2020 to fill the seat being vacated by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.[1][3]
Supports. Politico reported that Newsom chose Padilla to fill Harris' Senate seat, making him the state's first Latino senator.[4]
Context. The sources do not address the post's claim that the appointment was a payment to a demographic group, so that motive is neither confirmed nor refuted; the core fact of the appointment is well documented.
Sources
4 sources: 1 fact-checker, 1 primary, 2 tier 2
- 1California first: A Latino U.S. senator to replace Harrisapnews.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
- 2Governor Newsom Formally Appoints Alex Padilla to the U.S. ...gov.ca.gov · primary source · cited for: supports
- 3Newsom taps California election chief Padilla for U.S. Senatepbs.org · tier 2 · cited for: supports
- 4Newsom appoints Alex Padilla to fill Harris' Senate seatpolitico.com · tier 2 · cited for: supports
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- Gavin Newsom appointed Shirley Weber as Secretary of State.True
- California Attorney General Rob Bonta was appointed to his position by Governor Gavin Newsom to fill a vacancy.True
- Xavier Becerra was appointed as Secretary of Health and Human Services, creating a vacancy in the California Attorney General office.True
- John Ossoff and Raphael Warnock were elected to the Senate in Georgia.True
- Gavin Newsom hired defense attorney Abby Lowell.True