Jeffrey Blehar of National Review Online documents an on-air meltdown from California’s leading Democratic candidate for governor.
Back when conventional wisdom held — erroneously, I suspect — that the position was Kamala Harris’s for the taking, former Orange County congresswoman Katie Porter pipped the field by announcing her candidacy in March 2025.
That early start paid off for Porter, who currently leads a divided primary field. …
… Near the end of September, Porter sat down with CBS News’s California-based correspondent Julie Watts for a candidate interview — part of a series of them CBS is conducting with all the contenders — and the video aired only last night. Now California voters know a lot more about Porter, because she melted down in spectacular fashion on camera and terminated the interview abruptly. …
… Watts was actually attempting to pose a simple challenge to the would-be governor (as she later made clear many times): What do you say to the 40 percent of Californians you are seeking to federally disenfranchise? Can you reassure non-Democratic voters that you will govern them with understanding and sympathy?
Any competent candidate has an answer for a question like this, because it’s so frequently asked — a variant on “we may not share the same party but we share the same basic human needs, and I will work for you on that most important of levels.” But Katie Porter is not a competent candidate and apparently has never sat through a remotely adversarial interview in her life. …
… Her eyes narrow into reptilian slits, like a milk snake spotting a field mouse, and she leans forward with a frozen-smiled hiss: “How would I need them in order to win, ma’am?” The she turns to mug for the camera with a “can you believe this fool?” shrug. …
… Porter’s petulance, lack of preparation, and sense of self-entitlement were staggering. She was genuinely offended to have to answer a mildly difficult question, one that (as Watts emphasized) every other candidate handled with ease. She acted like it was an insult not only to her intelligence but her personal dignity.
