California Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie Porter acknowledged in an interview on Tuesday that “I could have handled things better” after several videos published over the last week generated criticism around her behavior.
“When I look at those videos, I want people to know that I understand that I could have handled things better. I think I’m known as someone who’s able to handle tough questions, who’s willing to answer questions, and I want people to know that I really value the incredible work that my staff can do,” Porter said in an interview with The Hill’s sister station and Nexstar affiliate KTLA in her first appearance since the videos became public.
“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,” she added.
Porter landed in hot water last week after CBS News aired an interview with her in which reporter Julie Watts at one point asked the former California congresswoman what she would say to the close to 40 percent of the Californians who voted for President Trump in last year’s election.
Porter initially appeared to suggest she wouldn’t need the support of those who backed Trump last year for her to win the governor’s race. She eventually clarified that she was “going to try to win every vote I can.”
Amid the back-and-forth between Porter and Watts, the former congresswoman signaled that she wanted to end the interview, looking visibly frustrated by the line of questioning. A Porter campaign spokesperson noted she stayed for another 20 minutes after that exchange.
Shortly after negative headlines over that back-and-forth, Politico published a video taken in 2021 for which Porter was recording a video call with then-Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. In the video, a staffer walked into her frame, and Porter could be seen saying “Get out of my f‑‑‑ing shot.”
The staffer noted they were trying to correct something that Porter had said during the video call with Granholm.
“OK, you also were in my shot before that. Stay out of my shot,” Porter said.
The exchanges coupled together generated lots of criticism online toward Porter, including from her gubernatorial opponents. Still, some of the organizations that are backing Porter in the race came to her defense.
KTLA’s Nikki Laurenzo asked Porter several times if California voters could be confident that there wouldn’t be any other damaging videos surfacing after those viral exchanges. Porter declined to commit that there wouldn’t be any other videos coming out afterward but did acknowledge that how she treated her staffer was “wrong” and said she did apologize to them.
“What I know is that I could have done better in those moments,” Porter told Laurenzo. “I’m going to be focused on earning their votes and earning their trust. That’s true in every election. I’ve only ever had tough elections, so I’m absolutely aware that I’m going to have to continue to show them. I’m going to have to answer every question.”
