Spencer Pratt fails to advance as Trump questions California elections
Trump questioned Spencer Pratt's LA mayoral election performance after the president walked out of a "Meet the Press" interview following a disagreement on the topic.
Reality TV alum Spencer Pratt will not advance to face off against incumbent Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, NBC News and the Associated Press have projected, as President Donald Trump publicly questioned the city's elections.
Instead, Bass, a former U.S. congresswoman, is expected to face her former ally, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Nithya Raman. In a June 8 post on his Truth Social platform, Trump circulated unfounded claims about California's election laws.
"Not possible for Spencer Pratt to have lost the L.A. runoffs after the big lead he had. 3rd World Nation. Rigged Elections!" Trump wrote. "Now they’ll be working on great guy Steve Hilton. Won't have results for, possibly, TWO WEEKS, according to officials," Trump added, referring to his British-born handpicked gubernatorial choice.
Trump's comments after he removed his microphone and abruptly exited a "Meet the Press" interview that aired on June 7, following a tense disagreement with moderator Kristen Welker about California's election security. Pratt also repeatedly questioned the vote count over the weekend before reassuring supporters that "there's still hundreds of votes outstanding, and LA officials have given us the next 3 weeks to count," adding: "Let's get-r-dun!"
Once known publicly as an infamous 2000s' reality TV villain on MTV's hit show "The Hills," Pratt ran a campaign casting Bass as inept and unable to handle the city's homelessness rates and drug usage. But his hopes to run the nation's second-largest city were overtaken by Raman, a progressive who ran to the left flank of both Pratt and Bass.
Results as of Monday, June 8 show Bass in the lead at 34.32%, followed by Raman at 28.55% and Pratt at 25.83%, according to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk. Officials are scheduled to certify the election results on June 26.
Pratt seized on frustrations from certain Los Angeles citizens following his own home loss in the city's wildfires last year. Bass was criticized for traveling internationally to Ghana as fire conditions loomed.
Raman, in her second term on the Los Angeles City Council, entered the race on Feb. 7, the last possible day to register. When she was elected in 2020, Raman became the first challenger to unseat a sitting Los Angeles councilmember in 17 years.
As NBC News and the Associated Press released their projections in the West Coast city, Trump was on the East Coast for the NBA Finals. He became the first sitting U.S. president to attend an NBA Finals game when he arrived at Madison Square Garden for Game 3 between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs.
He was booed loudly following a few chants of "USA, USA, USA" for the flag as he was shown on video screens during the national anthem.
Contributing: Mark Giannotto, USA TODAY Sports; Paris Barraza, USA TODAY Network