Katie Porter’s Heated Moments Caught on Video

A video released by Politico on Wednesday depicts California Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie Porter confronting a staff member during a 2021 video call. This clip shows Porter, then a representative, engaged in a discussion with Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm about energy and climate topics. At one point, she reacted angrily when a staff member entered the frame, exclaiming, “Get out of the fucking shot!”

Porter also scolded the staff member for having previously appeared in the background. “You were in my shot before that,” she asserted, adding, “Stay out of my shot.” This incident reportedly didn’t make it into the final edit of the Department of Energy’s webinar.

Interestingly, this footage surfaced shortly after another video gained traction online. In that clip, Porter displayed similar frustration while being interviewed by CBS California reporter Julie Watts, who asked her about appealing to Trump voters to secure victory in California’s elections.

Porter’s response to Watts, when asked how she would meet the needs of those voters, sparked a tense exchange. “Well, unless you think you can get 60 percent of the vote,” Watts remarked, leading to laughter from Porter. Still, the atmosphere shifted as it became clear that she was uncomfortable discussing the need to court Trump’s supporters.

Watts further pressed her, questioning, “So you don’t need them to win?” To that, Porter replied, “I think this is unnecessarily argumentative.” The conversation escalated until Porter decided to end the interview abruptly, stating, “I don’t want to keep doing this. I’m going to call it quits.”

When challenged about the lack of responses similar to other candidates, Porter retorted, “I don’t care,” and expressed a desire to avoid further conflict on camera. This kind of confrontation has drawn significant criticism online, particularly from conservative commentators who pointed out her challenges in handling the follow-up questions.