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‘Can you guys please get out of my shot?’: Katie Porter pokes fun at viral staffer video in new ad

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by Brett Stover - 05/05/26 10:18 AM ET

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by Brett Stover - 05/05/26 10:18 AM ET

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(Inside California Politics) — With just one month to go before California’s gubernatorial primary, former Rep. Katie Porter (D) is leaning into a controversial moment from her campaign.

In a new television ad released Monday, the Democratic candidate pokes fun at an interaction with a staffer that went viral last year.

After a series of scenes showing people holding whiteboards in the background — a symbol associated with Porter since her time in the U.S. House of Representatives — she asks, “Now, could you guys please get out of my shot?”

It references the viral video, first reported by Politico in October, which shows Porter scolding a staffer to “get out of my f—ing shot” during a 2021 meeting.

In an exclusive interview with Inside California Politics host Nikki Laurenzo, Porter said the ad aims to show Californians “who I really am.”

“I’m someone who’s not like most politicians,” Porter said. “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.”

Porter said the message for voters — some of whom will begin to receive mail ballots this week — is that the real Katie Porter is the one who’s been on the campaign trail for the past year and has apologized.

“It is about showing people that I absolutely understand that what I did was not my best moment,” she said. “People have asked me, ‘Is this really you? Can you do better? Will you do better?’ And this ad is about showing them, yes I can.”

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