The gubernatorial hopeful, long accused of abusive behavior, also threatened to leave an interview this week, saying she didn’t want ‘an unhappy experience’
A resurfaced video shows beleaguered Democratic California gubernatorial candidate Katie Porter yelling at a staffer to “get out of my fucking shot,” prompting intraparty condemnation and comparisons to Minnesota senator Amy Klobuchar, who was accused of mistreating staff and once ate a salad with a comb after berating an aide who forgot to bring a fork.
Porter’s staffer appeared in the background during her online meeting in July 2021 with then-energy secretary Jennifer Granholm, according to footage obtained by Politico. After being told to move out of frame, the staffer corrected Porter on what she had said about electric vehicles. Porter then responded, “You also were in my shot before that. Stay out of my shot.”
The video surfaced as Porter, who has faced accusations of abusive behavior for years, also made national headlines on Tuesday for threatening to walk out of an interview after being asked how she planned to win over Trump voters. “I don’t want to have an unhappy experience with you,” Porter said. “And I don’t want this all on camera.”
“Is this a disaster? Yes,” veteran Democratic strategist Gale Kaufman told Politico. “And the reason it’s a disaster is because it amplifies what her reputation already is.” Democratic gubernatorial contender Betty Yee has called on Porter to drop out of the race, saying that California’s first female governor should be “a trusted, respected leader we can all be proud of—not a viral embarrassment.”
Other Democrats have also condemned Porter. “What people saw in that interview is a certain temperament,” a consultant who worked for Adam Schiff’s Senate bid, Marisol Samayoa, told Politico. “The way she handled herself on camera is an example of the type of leadership Californians don’t want to see.”
Porter’s controversies have drawn comparisons to Klobuchar, the Minnesota Democrat who developed a reputation for abusing her staff. In one incident, Klobuchar ate a salad with a comb on a flight after an aide forgot to bring her a fork—then told the aide to clean the comb, according to reports in 2019 as she was launching her presidential campaign.
“[Klobuchar’s] problem is rage, easily uncorked, and directed not at the various forces that might thwart the needs of her constituents, but at the people—many of them young—who work for her,” the Atlantic reported at the time.
Like Klobuchar, Porter has long come under fire for abusive behavior. Porter’s ex-husband, Matthew Hoffman, accused her of verbally and physically abusing him. At one point, Porter dumped a pot of boiling mashed potatoes on Hoffman’s head, saying, “Can’t you read the fucking directions?” he alleged in a lawsuit. Porter’s staff has also accused her of fostering a toxic workplace, alleging the Democrat made “rude and racist comments” to aides and “ridiculed people for reporting sexual harassment.”
To add insult to injury, Porter responded to the Wednesday video with a recycled statement, saying that “it’s no secret” that she holds herself and her staff to “a high standard” and that she has tried to be “more intentional” about showing gratitude. The wording closely mirrors what she told the Washington Post in 2023 while defending her management style.
“Never a good thing when you have a canned I’m mean to my staff statement,” CNN senior politics reporter Andrew Kaczynski wrote on X.
