‘I Don’t Want This All on Camera’: California Democrat Flips Out, Tries to Storm Off Interview With Stunned Reporter
Former Democratic Rep. Katie Porter tried to storm out of an interview with CBS News’ Julie Watts after being pressed on how she expected to win Republican votes in her campaign to become the next governor of California.
In newly-revealed footage from an interview that took place last month, Porter could be seen snapping at the reporter upon being asked a relatively straightforward question.
“What do you say to the 40% of California voters, who you’ll need in order to win, who voted for Trump?” asked Watts.
Porter replied, “How would I need them in order to win, Ma’am?”
“Well, unless you think you’re gonna get 60% of the vote,” noted Watts. “Everybody who did not vote for Trump will vote for you? That’s what you’re saying?”
The conversation continued:
PORTER: In a general election, yes. If it’s me versus a Republican, I think that I will win the people who did not vote for Trump.
WATTS: What if it’s you versus another Democrat?
PORTER: I don’t intend that to be the case.
WATTS: So, how do you not intend that to be the case? Are you gonna ask them not to run?
PORTER: No, no. I’m saying I’m gonna build the support. I have the support already in terms of name recognition, and so I am gonna do the very best I can to make sure that we get through this primary in a really strong position. But let me be clear with you. I represented Orange County. I represented a purple area. I have stood on my own two feet and won Republican votes before, and that’s not something every candidate in this race can say…
WATTS: But you just said you don’t need those Trump voters.
“You asked me if I needed them to win. I feel like this is unnecessarily argumentative. What is your question?” snapped Porter, raising her hands up to the interviewer’s face.
Watts replied, “Every other candidate has answered this question. This is not argumentative.”
After the CBS News reporter repeated the question, Porter tried to take off her microphone while protesting, “I don’t want to keep doing this. I’m gonna call it. Thank you.”
“You’re not gonna do the interview with us?” asked Watts, to which Porter responded, “Nope. Not like this I’m not. Not with seven follow-ups to every single question you ask.”
As Watts tried to point out that every other candidate had answered the same question, Porter interrupted, “I don’t care… I have never had to do this before. Ever.”
“You’ve never had to have a conversation with a reporter?” Watts questioned.
“To end an interview,” Porter replied.
Watts proposed, “Okay, why don’t we go through– I will continue to ask follow-up questions because that’s my job as a journalist, but I will go through and ask these and if you don’t want to answer, you don’t want to answer.”
“I don’t want to have an unhappy experience with you and I don’t want this all on camera,” concluded Porter.
Axios national political correspondent Alex Thompson and journalist Yashar Ali both published the clip from the interview on Tuesday evening.
“Someone who used to work with Katie Porter sent me this clip from a train-wreck interview with her and said, ‘Now imagine what she’s like when there aren’t cameras around,” wrote Ali.
Porter has repeatedly been accused of bullying by former colleagues and staffers.
“She has made multiple staffers cry and people are generally so anxious to even staff her because if ANYTHING goes wrong she flips out on whatever staffer is present,” one former staffer claimed in 2024.
Watch above via CBS News.
