BURSTCalifornia gubernatorial candidate and former Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) tried to end an interview with a reporter after she was asked what she would say to voters in the state who voted for President Trump.
“What do you say to the 40 percent of California voters, who you’ll need in order to win, who voted for Trump?” CBS News correspondent Julie Watts asked Porter in a sitdown interview that aired Tuesday and quickly went viral.
“How would I need them in order to win, ma’am?” Porter responded.
When asked whether she thinks she will win the other 60 percent of California voters, Porter responds “In a general election? Yes. If it is me versus a Republican, I think I will win the people who did not vote for Trump.”
Watts then asks Porter what she thinks would happen if it was her versus another Democrat, to which Porter said, “I don’t intend that to be the case.” Porter argued she has already built support in terms of name recognition.
Porter then appeared to become irritated when Watts pressed her, saying the interview was becoming “unnecessarily argumentative.” Watts said CBS News has asked the other reporters in the race the same question.
“I don’t want to keep doing this. I’m gonna call it. Thank you,” Porter says, looking off camera.
“You’re not going to do the interview with us?” Watts asked.
“Nope, not like this I’m not. Not with seven follow-ups to every question you ask,” she said, adding that she didn’t care that the other candidates had been asked the same question.
Watts and Porter continued to go back and forth on whether Porter would answer the reporters’ questions and follow-ups.
“I don’t want to have an unhappy experience with you, and I don’t want this all on camera,” Porter said.
The testy exchange comes as Porter leads the race for governor in the Golden State. According to a poll from the University of California, Berkeley released in late August, Porter led the crowded field of Democrats with 17 percent support.
Republican Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco came in with 10 percent support, while Democratic former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra received 9 percent.
Nine other candidates earned 6 percent or less. In California’s nonpartisan system, the top two candidates move on from the primary to the general election, regardless of party affiliation.
However, 38 percent of voters remain undecided in the race, more than twice the share that picked Porter.
Two of Porter's Democratic rivals criticized her handling of the interview.
Becerra in a post on X said he was "not interested in excluding any vote."
"Every Californian deserves affordable health care, safe streets, a roof over their head and a living wage," he wrote in a post noting the interview.
Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said "we need a leader who will solve hard problems and answer simple questions" in a post that highlighted Porter cutting off the interview.
The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates California's governors race as "solid Democratic."
This story was updated at 9:24 a.m.