‘I Fell Short’: Katie Porter Battles Fallout After Explosive Staffer Tirade and On-Air Interview Clash

California Democrat Katie Porter admitted she “fell short” after two explosive viral videos showed her berating a staffer and threatening to walk out of a on-air interview after a week that has rattled her campaign to succeed Governor Gavin Newsom.

The former congresswoman, long seen as the early frontrunner for 2026, is now facing questions over her temperament and leadership style.

The interview footage, first released by CBS Sacramento and Politico last week, shows Porter laughing off a reporter’s question about Republican voters before threatening to walk out and then, in a further clip that resurfaced during the fallout, cursing out an aide who corrected her during a 2021 recording.

“I absolutely understand that I could have been better in those moments,” Porter said Tuesday during a Zoom call hosted by the progressive Working Families Party, according to The New York Times. “I’m going to hold myself to that standard, to do better and to acknowledge that I fell short.”

Speaking to KTLA 5’s Inside California Politics host Nikki Laurenzo on the same day, Porter said: “What I did to that staffer was wrong. I’ve acknowledged it to her in that moment, and I’m acknowledging it now.”

She continued: “I think people who know me know I can be tough, but I need to do a better job expressing appreciation for the amazing work that my team does.”

Porter insisted she would not “back down from fighting back for California.”

Watch above via KTLA 5.