Democratic Party officials have been united in their public and vigorous support of Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) after he was forcibly removed and handcuffed at a news conference for Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Thursday.

Since then, Democrat after Democrat has offered their backing to Padilla, calling the incident a grave miscarriage of justice and signaling an effort to take on President Trump and his administration.

But behind the scenes, a number of Democrats worry the incident won’t play well for the party in the long run, especially since the chatter appeared to fall along party lines in the aftermath of Padilla’s removal.

In interviews Friday, these Democrats didn't want to speak on the record given that officials in their party are publicly unanimous in backing Padilla.

But these sources say they fear the Padilla incident could have negative ramifications as the party tries to find its way back from their devastating loss in November.

“Here's the thing: Did it change anyone's minds or did it just rev up the base?” said one Democratic strategist worried the incident could backfire on their party.

“This is what we........

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