Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has withdrawn from a candidate forum scheduled for May 13 — just two weeks before the primary — after reality TV star-turned-mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt absolutely bodied her in a debate last week. The mayor of America's second-largest city is running away from a guy who got famous on MTV. Peak 2026.
She can't handle Spencer Pratt. No wonder she couldn't handle the wildfires.
The forum, hosted by the League of Women Voters and the Pat Brown Institute, was supposed to feature the major candidates vying for the LA mayor's office. Bass had previously confirmed she'd attend. Then the debate happened, and suddenly the mayor has somewhere else to be.
Pratt — who lost his own home in the Palisades Fire — went after Bass with the fury of a man who watched everything he owned burn while the city's leadership fumbled the response. He challenged both Bass and Democratic socialist city councilwoman Nithya Raman over their actions, or lack thereof, during the disaster. By all accounts, he dominated the exchange.
So what's Bass's excuse for ducking the forum? Her campaign spokesperson Alex Stack claimed she'd be "in Sacramento that day fighting for funding for housing, homelessness, and Palisades Fire recovery, and will also discuss the city and state partnership on the Olympics and World Cup." Translation: literally anything other than standing on a stage and facing voters two weeks before they decide her fate.
The League of Women Voters wasn't buying it. "Mayor Bass's withdrawal is disappointing," the organizers said. "Public forums such as this are a cornerstone of democratic accountability." They added, "We remain committed to providing voters with meaningful opportunities to engage with those seeking public office." That's polite-speak for "the mayor is ducking and we noticed."
Three candidates — Raman, Adam Miller, and Rae Huang — are still expected to show up on May 13. Pratt himself won't attend due to a prior scheduling conflict, but the damage was already done in the debate. Bass saw what happened when she shared a stage with him and made a strategic decision: never again.
Let that sink in. The sitting mayor of Los Angeles, a career politician, a woman who has the entire Democratic machine behind her, is so rattled by a reality TV personality that she's pulling out of public forums. Spencer Pratt — the guy from "The Hills" — has the mayor of a city of four million people on the run.
This is what happens when you fail your city so spectacularly that even a reality star can make you look incompetent. Bass presided over a wildfire catastrophe that destroyed entire neighborhoods. She's been dogged by questions about her leadership for months. And now, instead of facing the public and making her case, she's hiding behind a Sacramento schedule conflict.
As reported by the Daily Wire, the debate clash and Bass's subsequent withdrawal both happened within the last few days, and her performance is going viral for all the wrong reasons.
Two weeks before a primary and the incumbent won't debate. That tells you everything you need to know about how Karen Bass thinks this is going.