Democrat Katie Porter, the current reported frontrunner for the California gubernatorial election, attempted to storm out of an interview after being asked a question about swaying voters who supported President Donald Trump in the 2024 election.
Leaked footage of Porter's interview with CBS News reporter Julie Watts that took place last month surfaced on Tuesday (October 7) and shows a hostile exchange between the two.
“What do you say to the 40% of California voters, who you’ll need in order to win, who voted for Trump?” Watts asked.
The question led to a brief back-and-forth exchange in which Porter insisted she could build support throughout the state before accusing Watts of asking an "argumentative" question.
“I feel like this is unnecessarily argumentative. What is your question?” she said.
Watts then claimed that “every other candidate has answered this question" and that it was "not argumentative," at which point Porter appeared to try to take off her microphone and threaten to leave the interview after the question was asked again.
“I don’t want to keep doing this. I’m going to call it,” Porter said. “I want to have a pleasant, positive conversation… And if every question you’re going to make up a follow-up question, then we’re never going to get there.”
“I don’t want this all on camera,” she later added.
Porter's campaign said the interview continued for an additional 20 minutes after the testy exchange in response to the clip leaking on social media Tuesday. It's unclear if, or when, the interview was set to air in its entirety as of Wednesday (October 8) morning.
Porter was named as the frontrunner among both declared and undeclared candidates for the June 2026 primary for Governor of California, according to a survey conducted by Emerson College Polling last month. The former congresswoman has, however, faced accusations that she bullied staffers and was accused by her ex-husband of frequently abusing him verbally and having thrown “toys, books and other objects” at him, as well as once pouring hot mashed potatoes on his head during a fight, during their marriage, the New York Post reports.