"I don't want to have an unhappy experience with you, and I don't want this all on camera."
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Former California congresswoman Katie Porter had a meltdown during an interview with CBS News Sacramento and attempted to leave the interview without answering questions. "I'm me, I'm running for governor because I'm a leader," she said. "I don't want to have an unhappy experience with you. And I don't want all this on camera."
Porter, a UC Irvine law professor, has a small lead in polling for the 2026 gubernatorial race, but when CBS News' Julie Watts asked Porter if she needed the state's Trump voters to win, Porter became unhinged.
"What do you say to the 40% of California voters, who you'll need in order to win, who voted for Trump?" Watts asked.
Porter was confused. "How would I need them in order to win, ma'am?" She asked.
"Well," Watts explained, "unless you think you're going to get 60% of the vote, you think you're gonna get 60—everybody who did not vote for Trump will vote for you, that's what you're—"
"In a general election?" Porter asked incredulously. "Yes. If it's me versus a Republican? I think that I will win the people who did not vote for Trump."
"What if it's you versus another Democrat?" Watts asked.
"I don't intend that to be the case," said Porter.
It was Watts' turn to be perplexed. "So how do you intend that not to be the case? Are you gonna ask them not to run?"
"No, no, I'm saying I'm gonna build the support," Porter said. "I have the support already in terms of name recognition, and so I'm gonna do the very best I can to make sure that we get through this primary in a really strong position. But let me be clear with you, I represented Orange County. I represented a purple area. I have stood on my own two feet and won Republican votes before. That's not something every candidate in this race can say. If you're from a deep blue area, if you're from LA or you're from Oakland, you haven't, you don't have an experience—"
"You just said you don't need those Trump voters," Watts said, looking for clarity.
"You asked me if I needed them to win," Porter said before taking issue directly with Watts. "I feel like this is unnecessarily argumentative. What is your question?"
Watts was asking about the California Democrats' push for redistricting in the state. California has a constitutional amendment making redistricting for congressional seats a matter for an independent body. But Governor Gavin Newsom, whose term expires in 2026, has pushed to put a measure on the ballot for voters to say they want to bypass the state's constitution and have the Democrat-led legislature redistrict Republican congressional seats out of existence.
That plan is called the "Empowering Voters to Stop Trump's Power Grab" act and it has less to do with California than Newsom's response to other states, such as Texas, following their own state laws to redistrict their own states after massive population influxes.
"The question is the same thing I asked everybody," Watts said. "That this is being called the 'Empowering Voters to Stop Trump's Power Grab.' Every other candidate has answered this question."
"I said I support it," Porter said.
"And the question is," Watts said, "what do you say to the 40% of voters who voted for Trump?"
"Oh, I'm happy to say that," Porter said, "it's the 'do you need them to win' part that I don't understand. I'm happy to answer the question as you have it written and I'll answer it."
"And we've also asked the other candidates," Watts went on, "do you think you need any of those 40% of California voters to win? And you're saying 'no,' you don't."
"No, said Porter, "I'm saying I'm going to try to win every vote I can. And what I'm saying to you is that—"
When Watts tried to proceed, Porter put a stop to the entire interview, saying "I don't want to keep doing this. I'm going to call it. Thank you." Watts was surprised and asked if she was just not going to do the interview. "Nope, not like this I'm not, not with seven follow-ups to every single question you ask."
Watts pointed out that every other candidate in the race has done the interview. "I don't care. I don't care," Porter said. "I want to have a pleasant, positive conversation, in which you asked 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, and we're just going to circle around—I have never had to do this before, ever," said the woman who wants to lead the state of California.
Watts was a bit stunned and pointed out again that "every other candidate has done this."
"What part of—I'm me," she said. "I'm running for governor because I'm a leader, so I am going to make—"
"So you're not going to answer questions from reporters?" Watts asked, before continuing to ask questions.
"I don't want to have an unhappy experience with you, and I don't want this all on camera," Porter said.
Porter, a UC Irvine law professor, has a small lead in polling for the 2026 gubernatorial race, but when CBS News' Julie Watts asked Porter if she needed the state's Trump voters to win, Porter became unhinged.
"What do you say to the 40% of California voters, who you'll need in order to win, who voted for Trump?" Watts asked.
Porter was confused. "How would I need them in order to win, ma'am?" She asked.
"Well," Watts explained, "unless you think you're going to get 60% of the vote, you think you're gonna get 60—everybody who did not vote for Trump will vote for you, that's what you're—"
"In a general election?" Porter asked incredulously. "Yes. If it's me versus a Republican? I think that I will win the people who did not vote for Trump."
"What if it's you versus another Democrat?" Watts asked.
"I don't intend that to be the case," said Porter.
It was Watts' turn to be perplexed. "So how do you intend that not to be the case? Are you gonna ask them not to run?"
"No, no, I'm saying I'm gonna build the support," Porter said. "I have the support already in terms of name recognition, and so I'm gonna do the very best I can to make sure that we get through this primary in a really strong position. But let me be clear with you, I represented Orange County. I represented a purple area. I have stood on my own two feet and won Republican votes before. That's not something every candidate in this race can say. If you're from a deep blue area, if you're from LA or you're from Oakland, you haven't, you don't have an experience—"
"You just said you don't need those Trump voters," Watts said, looking for clarity.
"You asked me if I needed them to win," Porter said before taking issue directly with Watts. "I feel like this is unnecessarily argumentative. What is your question?"
Watts was asking about the California Democrats' push for redistricting in the state. California has a constitutional amendment making redistricting for congressional seats a matter for an independent body. But Governor Gavin Newsom, whose term expires in 2026, has pushed to put a measure on the ballot for voters to say they want to bypass the state's constitution and have the Democrat-led legislature redistrict Republican congressional seats out of existence.
That plan is called the "Empowering Voters to Stop Trump's Power Grab" act and it has less to do with California than Newsom's response to other states, such as Texas, following their own state laws to redistrict their own states after massive population influxes.
"The question is the same thing I asked everybody," Watts said. "That this is being called the 'Empowering Voters to Stop Trump's Power Grab.' Every other candidate has answered this question."
"I said I support it," Porter said.
"And the question is," Watts said, "what do you say to the 40% of voters who voted for Trump?"
"Oh, I'm happy to say that," Porter said, "it's the 'do you need them to win' part that I don't understand. I'm happy to answer the question as you have it written and I'll answer it."
"And we've also asked the other candidates," Watts went on, "do you think you need any of those 40% of California voters to win? And you're saying 'no,' you don't."
"No, said Porter, "I'm saying I'm going to try to win every vote I can. And what I'm saying to you is that—"
When Watts tried to proceed, Porter put a stop to the entire interview, saying "I don't want to keep doing this. I'm going to call it. Thank you." Watts was surprised and asked if she was just not going to do the interview. "Nope, not like this I'm not, not with seven follow-ups to every single question you ask."
Watts pointed out that every other candidate in the race has done the interview. "I don't care. I don't care," Porter said. "I want to have a pleasant, positive conversation, in which you asked 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, and we're just going to circle around—I have never had to do this before, ever," said the woman who wants to lead the state of California.
Watts was a bit stunned and pointed out again that "every other candidate has done this."
"What part of—I'm me," she said. "I'm running for governor because I'm a leader, so I am going to make—"
"So you're not going to answer questions from reporters?" Watts asked, before continuing to ask questions.
"I don't want to have an unhappy experience with you, and I don't want this all on camera," Porter said.
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