A seemingly benign question about the California gubernatorial race led to a candidate trying storm out of an interview with a CBS reporter.
CBS Newsâ Julie Watts was interviewing former Democratic Rep. Katie porter (D-Calif.) when she asked Porter getting the Republican vote in her quest for California governor, per Mediaite.
Footage of the interview, which took place in September, shows Porter snapping at Watts.
âWhat do you say to the 40% of California voters, who youâll need in order to win, who voted for Trump?â Watts asked.
âHow would I need them in order to win, Maâam?â Porter responded.
âWell, unless you think youâre gonna get 60% of the vote,â Watts said.âEverybody who did not vote for Trump will vote for you? Thatâs what youâre saying?â
âIn a general election, yes. If itâs me versus a Republican, I think that I will win the people who did not vote for Trump,â Porter said.
âWhat if itâs you versus another Democrat?â Watts asked.
âI donât intend that to be the case,â Porter answered.
âSo, how do you not intend that to be the case? Are you gonna ask them not to run?â Watts continued.
âNo, no. Iâm saying Iâm gonna build the support. I have the support already in terms of name recognition, and so I am 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,â Porter said. âI represented a purple area. I have stood on my own two feet and won Republican votes before, and thatâs not something every candidate in this race can sayâŚâ
âBut you just said you donât need those Trump voters,â Watts retorted.
âYou asked me if I needed them to win. I feel like this is unnecessarily argumentative. What is your question?â Porter snapped as she raised her hands up Wattsâ face.
Watts replied, âEvery other candidate has answered this question. This is not argumentative.â
Watts repeated the question and Porter tried to take off her microphone.
âI donât want to keep doing this. Iâm gonna call it. Thank you,â Porter said.
âYouâre not gonna do the interview with us?â Watts asked.
âNope. Not like this Iâm not. Not with seven follow-ups to every single question you ask,â Porter said.
Watts pointed out every other candidate answered the same question.
âI donât care⌠I have never had to do this before. Ever,â Porter said.
âYouâve never had to have a conversation with a reporter?â Watts asked.
âTo end an interview,â Porter said.
Watts then tried to salvage the interview.
âOK, why donât we go throughâ I will continue to ask follow-up questions because thatâs my job as a journalist, but I will go through and ask these and if you donât want to answer, you donât want to answer,â Watts suggested.
âI donât want to have an unhappy experience with you and I donât want this all on camera,â Porter responded.
Axios national political correspondent Alex Thompson and journalist Yashar Ali published the interview clip Tuesday evening.
Watch:
âSomeone who used to work with Katie porter sent me this clip from a train-wreck interview with her and said, âNow imagine what sheâs like when there arenât cameras around,â Ali wrote.
