California gubernatorial hopeful Katie Porter caught flashing icy glare at staffer in latest bullying scandal
California gubernatorial hopeful Katie Porter was caught on camera flashing an icy glare at a staffer over a perceived lighting issue during a Zoom interview – as resurfaced videos of her explosive temper continue to go viral.
The newly unearthed footage shows the hot-headed former Golden State congresswoman – already under fire for her testy attitude – sparring with her staff during a 2021 interview.
In the short clip, the embattled Democrat pops into the interview and immediately snaps at an employee to turn off “the bright lights,” before softening her tone, casting a quick smile at the camera and apologizing for the hold up.
She then cuts herself off, barking at the worker again to shut off the lights.
“I need you to turn these off, these that are killing me,” Porter fumes, before turning back to the camera to politely ask the audience to sit tight – and then lashing out at another employee, according to the fiery video shared on social media Thursday.
As the lights go out, Porter erupts, “Not that dark!” and then unleashes the scathing stare.
The furious pol then shuts off her screen and reappears from a better-lit location.
The scorching footage piles on to the intense scrutiny the testy politician has come under after she called a CBS reporter “argumentative” during a sit-down interview and nearly stormed out when asked a simple question about President Trump and how she plans to score Republican votes.
“I don’t want to keep doing this. I’m going to call it,” Porter said in the viral meltdown, which aired on Monday and quickly lit a firestorm on social media.
The heated lawmaker oddly insisted that the news interview – which featured identical queries posed to other governor candidates – was being bogged down by follow-up questions.
“Ms. Porter, I am an investigative reporter,” reporter Julie Watts said in disbelief at Porter’s outrage. “You’ve never had to have a conversation with a reporter?”
Another video, obtained by Politico, showed Porter screaming at a female staffer to “get out my f–king shot,” during a July 2021 Zoom discussion with the Biden administration on environmental policy.
The 51-year-old has developed a reputation for having a bad temper when she doesn’t get her way.
In 2022, Porter was accused by a former congressional aide of bullying after the lawmaker allegedly claimed the staffer exposed her to COVID-19 by working in-person during the pandemic.
Her ex-husband, Matthew Hoffman, also alleged in their 2013 divorce proceedings that she frequently abused him verbally — and once dumped scalding-hot mashed potatoes on his head during a fight.
“When she gets angry, she will claw and scratch her arms and then say to me, ‘Look what you made me do,’” Hoffman shockingly stated in court papers.
Porter is vying to replace term-limited Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom in the Nov. 3 election.