I am going to be honest, most of you already know this is not my first run for governor of California. Whether running against Newsom’s reelection, or running in the 2026 campaign, every political candidate running for any political office will eventually have to deal with the media.
I have been interviewed for TV, print, radio, YouTube and podcast for numerous streaming services. What they never teach in Government-101 classes is how to prepare for the ludicrous Q&A interviews with the modern mainstream media.
Over the years I have been asked some of the most silly and asinine questions imaginable. As the candidate I must remain poised, stoic, then answer each and every question in a professional and respectful manner. After which I move on to the next interview and do it all over again.
It is part of the rat-race one is required to endure to earn the trust of the people and win their vote at election time. As a three-term member of Congress, a former U.S. Senate candidate and now a candidate for California governor, Katie Porter should already know this. Which makes Ms. Porter’s recent interview with CBS’ Julie Watts all the more interesting.
What was there to melt down about? What ruffled her feathers?
I sat through that same interview, and I was asked those same questions. I too received follow-up questions to my answers – that is basic interviewing SOP. Porter was not being grilled or targeted with any hard “gotcha” questions. So again, what was her issue? Porter was most likely coached and prepped on what the main questions were going to be in the interview, so she was ready for those answers. But when Watts steered off to the follow-ups, Porter was not prepared for that and it rattled her, which played out on the video.
Another thing that popped out to me was Porter’s immediate reaction to the question about reaching out to Trump supporters. The expression on her face answered the question: “Are you kidding? This is California, I don’t need them to win!” Is what she was likely thinking. Sadly, every statewide election results going back to 2010 would prove her bravado right. But to be questioned on that? How dare she!
Yet this is not a one-off incident. Bad temper, poor behavior, and blowing up at others has been the hallmark of Katie Porter’s political career. Porter bad reputation in D.C. of mistreating her congressional staff – including one story where she berates a staffer, shouting (on camera), “Get out of my f*cking shot!” Another story chronicled how she fired a staffer – a Wounded Warrior veteran – because he contracted COVID. An anonymous staffer wrote a message to the media on X saying, “Now imagine what she is like when there aren’t cameras around.”
In her personal life, in one incident she scalded her ex-husband’s scalp by dumping hot water filled with potatoes on his head, and in another incident filed a restraining order against an ex-boyfriend. By the way, Porter defended a different boyfriend against the Irvine Police Department, which had cited him days earlier for punching a protestor to the ground. In response, Porter called the police department “a disgrace!”
If this is Porter’s personal behavior behind the scenes, then what has her professional demeanor looked like?
Remember, this was the individual who once dressed up as “Batgirl” and went to work on Capitol Hill that way, even sitting in on a committee in costume! Ridiculous. Even the women on “The View” thought the incident was embarrassing.
When Porter ran for U.S. Senate to replace the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein, she was defeated in the primaries by Adam Schiff and Republican Steve Garvey. But instead of bowing out like a professional, Porter lost her temper and declared that the election had been rigged! Wow, it’s OK for a Democrat to do it; but when a Republican does it, Democrats put him under a Special Counsel investigation.
Now the race for California’s next governor has officially started! For the first time in 20 years, Republicans are leading in gubernatorial statewide polls, and Porter’s Democratic brethren are turning on her instead of their usual circling of the wagons. To say “it’s early in the campaign” is moot. As outlined above, this is but one more example of bad conduct stemming from a history of poor decisions and abusive behavior. She has proven to possess poor leadership skills both amongst her personal staff and in the performance of her duties in elected office.
Katie Porter is unfit and lacks the professionalism to be the next governor of California. For the good of the state and the people of California, I join the chorus and call upon Porter to drop out of this race.