OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
8:30 AM – Thursday, October 9, 2025
Former California representative Katie Porter, a leading Democrat candidate for governor, is facing criticism over hastily ending an interview with a news outlet, having been frustrated with the reporter’s follow-up questions.
In a clip initially posted on Monday, Porter took offense to a line of questioning posed by CBS investigative journalist Julie Watts, who questioned if she felt the need to appeal to the millions of Trump voters in the state.
Watts suggested that Porter would need to sway some conservative voters in California to win the gubernatorial election, to which Porter leaned in and asked, “How would I need them in order to win, ma’am?”
The former congresswoman maintained her belief that if she ran against a Republican, she would win with the support of the 60% of Californians who did not vote for President Donald Trump in the last election.
When asked what would happen in a primary election against another Democrat, Porter said, “I don’t intend that to be the case.”
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Porter boasted her “name recognition” and her history of representing the “purple area” of Orange County, the only county along the coastline that voted for Trump in 2024.
“We’ve also asked the other candidates: Do you think you need any of those 40% of California voters to win? And you’re saying no, you don’t,” Watts asked.
“No, I’m saying I’m going to try to win every vote I can, and what I’m saying to you is that…” Porter trailed off, sighing.
Watts attempted to rephrase the question before Porter turned to the camera and interjected, “I don’t want to keep doing this. I’m going to call it, thank you.”
“You’re not going to do the interview with us?” Watts asked.
“Nope, not like this I’m not. Not with seven follow-ups to every single question you ask,” Porter said.
The journalist argued that every other candidate she interviewed answered her follow-up questions when Porter cut in, “I don’t care. I don’t care. I want to have a pleasant, positive conversation in which you ask me about every issue on this list, and if every question you’re going to make up a follow-up question, then we’re never going to get there.”
The two women had a brief back-and-forth in which Watts reminded the candidate that she is an investigative journalist, therefore asking follow-up questions is her job. Porter told the journalist that she’d never had to end an interview before.
“I’m me,” Porter argued. “I’m running for California Governor because I’m a leader.”
“So, you’re not going to answer questions from reporters?” Watts asked, before attempting to continue.
“I don’t want to have an unhappy experience with you,” Porter said, cutting the interviewer off again, “and I don’t want this all on camera.”
This exchange went viral on social media, with conservatives calling Porter out for refusing to answer simple questions.
“Katie Porter having a meltdown over a journalist being a journalist is exactly what I needed to see this morning,” said conservative commentator Riley Gaines said on X on Wednesday.
“Katie Porter just had a meltdown when asked what she’d say to GOP voters,” wrote Representative Ken Calvert (R-Calif.) on X on Tuesday. “Her tirade is a window into the mentality of radical CA Democrat politicians. They can’t stand those who disagree with them. They’re trying to silence their opponents with Prop 50. They even condone violent rhetoric targeting Republicans. We have to speak up. We have to vote NO on Prop 50. We have to take our state back from these extremists.”
Prop 50 is the measure being pushed by current California Governor Gavin Newsom, which, if passed, would override the independent committee that redraws the state’s congressional maps to add five Democrat seats, effectively canceling out the five Republican seats gained by Texas this year.
This viral moment also invited the scrutiny of some on the left, with Democrat consultant Lis Smith on Tuesday posting on X, “This is simply not how to run for office or how to deal with the media. And if this how someone acts on camera, imagine how they act off camera.”
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