Dem CA candidate for gov backs men in women’s sports

During a 2023 episode of Real Time with Bill Maher, then-Rep Porter said, "we should be able to have a civil debate," and that it "should be up to sporting bodies to make decisions about" transgender athletes competing.

She said she "disagreed" with Riley Gaines, who came to prominence after speaking out about her experience swimming against transgender athlete Lia Thomas at the NCAA championships in 2022. "I think that what she has done is try to turn this—we talked about people, you know, becoming, using things to kind of get likes and get clicks."

Fellow guest of Maher’s show, Piers Morgan, interjected, "that’s not what she’s doing." He later added, "all I’ve seen her do is stand up for women’s rights for fairness and equality. She actually competed against Lia Thomas, and it was obviously unfair. Lia Thomas won one of the races in the NCAA championship by 50 seconds against a bunch of biological females who simply couldn’t keep up. That cannot be right. It cannot be fair."

"That is something that I think our sporting bodies should be dealing with," Porter replied. "And by the way, Riley is speaking up for herself. That is her prerogative, and I respect her free speech."

Morgan replied, "I think she’s speaking up for pretty much every female athlete in the world."

During a recent interview with a local CBS station in California, Porter nearly stormed out when asked, "What do you say to the 40% of California voters, who you'll need in order to win, who voted for Trump?"

When she took issue with the question, interviewer Julie Watts noted that the same question has been asked to other candidates in the race. As Watts continued to press Porter, she said, "I don't want to have an unhappy experience with you, and I don't want this all on camera."

Footage has also surfaced from Politico showing Porter during an online conversation with then-Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm in July 2021 snapping at a staffer who appeared in the background of Porter’s video.

The staffer, who had been seen in the corner of the video earlier on, reappeared and Porter shouted, "get the f*ck out of my shot." The staffer stepped in to correct her on a point she made, to which Porter replied, "okay, you were also in my shot before that. Stay out of my shot."