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California voters deserve to know the real temperament of anyone who wants to run the largest state in the nation, and the string of viral videos featuring former Congresswoman Katie Porter has made that case impossible to ignore. What started as a single awkward interview has snowballed into a full-blown PR disaster for the Democrat running to succeed Gavin Newsom, and reporters from major outlets have circulated footage that paints a far different picture than her polished fundraising pitches.
The most damning clip shows Porter, during a July 2021 virtual call with then-Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, suddenly losing her temper and shouting at a staffer to “get out of my f—ing shot,” an outburst that even the edited government version left out. That’s not a slip of wit or a clipped answer; it’s a boss bullying an underling on camera, something voters can watch for themselves and judge.
That moment was quickly followed by another viral exchange in which Porter threatened to walk out of an on-camera interview when a reporter pressed her on how she would win Trump voters in California. Instead of demonstrating the steady, unflappable leadership Californians need in crisis and competition, she gave voters a spectacle: impatience, anger, and thin-skinned defensiveness.
Unsurprisingly, her rivals and even some Democrats are seizing on these clips, questioning whether a person who treats staff and reporters this way is fit to be governor of a state with deep policy challenges. Political opponents are calling for answers, and a chorus of critics across the media are rightly asking whether temperament and character matter when the stakes are this high.
This isn’t a small-time smear; it matters for the June 2026 primary and beyond, because a governor must be more than performative outrage on TV and abrasive clips that go viral. California needs leaders who can negotiate across differences, keep a cool head during wildfires, economic crises, and border pressures, and who won’t humiliate staffers or storm off when a tough question lands.
Long before these clips went viral, multiple reports raised concerns about Porter’s management style and how she treated employees behind closed doors, and those reports are now finding fresh traction in light of the footage. Voters should not shrug off a pattern that looks like a propensity to bully and an inability to handle heat with dignity—qualities that should disqualify anyone from running the statewide executive office.
Hardworking Californians deserve better than spectacle politics and temper tantrums masquerading as toughness. If Katie Porter wants to run for governor, she must answer for these moments in full, show genuine contrition, and prove she can lead with respect and competence — otherwise voters should reject the chaos and choose steadiness, common sense, and decency.
