OAN Staff Jenna Lee
6:29 PM – Tuesday, May 5, 2026
California gubernatorial candidate Katie Porter has released a new campaign ad that references a viral video from last year featuring one of her most heated moments.
In October, a video from a 2021 meeting—first resurfaced by Politico—showed Porter on a video call with then–Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm. When a staffer briefly appeared in the background, Porter reacted sharply, yelling, “Get out of my f***ing shot.”
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In her new campaign ad, which features people holding whiteboards in the background, Porter jokes, “Now, could you guys please get out of my shot?” a nod to the 2021 video.
“I think it’s important to show Californians who I really am. I’m someone who’s not like most politicians. I push a shopping cart and fill a minivan—you see that in the ad. But you also see somebody who’s taken responsibility again and again in this race, and is also able to laugh at herself and show that she’s grown. I think that is a mark of leadership, and I want to show people that,” explained Porter in the ad.
The Orange County representative also drew criticism during a tense October 2025 interview with CBS News reporter Julie Watts, where she deflected questions about appealing to Trump voters and described the line of questioning as “unnecessarily argumentative.”
“I don’t want to keep doing this. I’m going to call it,” she added.
The moment also gained attention along with the separate footage of Porter snapping at her staffer. She apologized in the aftermath of the video.
“I took responsibility. When we did that interview — and more importantly, I took responsibility five years ago, too, and worked together with that staffer for four years after that,” said Porter to Nexstar.
“I think that is a mark of leadership. I want to show people that,” she said after acknowledging her mistake.
In an April poll of likely voters, Porter is polling in fifth place at 8–9%, while Xavier Becerra leads the Democrat field. Trump-endorsed Republican Steve Hilton is at the top of the polls.
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