Rep. Katie Porter Blasts Election Laws in Jon Stewart Interview: Have To Use Video ‘Walking Through a Happy Meadow’ Instead of Doing My Job

Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) got candid with Jon Stewart about the complicated rules surrounding re-election campaigns, including the prohibition on using footage from House floor speeches in campaign ads.

On the Wednesday edition of The Problem with Jon Stewart, Porter joined the show to talk about rising inflation and the upcoming election for which she is seeking to extend her position as representative for California’s 45th congressional district.

During the conversation, she discussed one of the issues she has had during the campaign, specifically when it comes to campaign ads. A clip from the discussion began to circulate Twitter via The Recount.

Porter said that regular people often don’t have time to sit at home and watch C-SPAN all day, so during election season, it’s important to showcase the job you’ve been doing as their representative. There is just one problem, she said: due to House ethics rules, they are not allowed to use footage from their time on the House floor within their campaign.

“So one of the things that I think people don’t know about politics that I really struggle with is, we are not allowed ethically under the House ethics rules to use footage of us doing our jobs in our campaigns,” Porter said.

“Wait, what?” said a shocked Stewart.

“Yes. So if I question a witness about inflation, if I push the CDC director and get us free testing, if I hold Jamie Dimon’s feet to the fire about employee pay just to name a few, I can’t use those clips — that footage of me actually doing my job well to get elected,” she clarified.

“The only reason people should vote for anyone, Democrat, Republican, or otherwise, is if they think they’re gonna do a good job. But I’m not allowed to show people me actually doing a good job. Instead, the commercials have to be filled with, you know, footage of me walking through a happy meadow or whatever. So that is one of the real burdens we face,” Porter added.

Stewart pressed for more information and asked why Congress can’t use footage of themselves doing their job but politicians can use insider information to trade stocks.

“The House committee on ethics is not a committee on morality. Let’s just be clear. Ethics in this sense are a set of rules that someone put together, often solving one problem at a time, not in a holistic, complete way, not updated to deal with kind of modern realities. So, you know, my frustration is I wanna earn people’s votes because they think I’m fighting for them and they think I’m delivering for them, but I’m not allowed to show them that,” she said.

Porter explained that the reasoning behind the rule revolved around taxpayer money. The Capitol building as well as the cameras on the House floor are government resources and therefore taxpayer resources, which incumbents are prohibited from utilizing to get re-elected.

“I do think there is a kind of problem here, which is that, you know, anybody can shoot a commercial that shows them looking like — I’ll do the pose they make you do with this hero shot,” Porter said while putting her hand on her hip and staring off into the distance.

“Right? But that hero shot doesn’t put money in your pocket. It doesn’t make for a fair economy. It doesn’t get you healthcare when you need it … I think it comes from this idea that the footage that –the speaking to the American public isn’t part of our work. Our work is just legislation. And I’m here to tell you it’s both. Because when you talk to American straight about what’s at stake, you build support for the legislation that we’re trying to pass,” she concluded.

Listen above via The Problem with Jon Stewart.