California’s already chaotic gubernatorial race took another dramatic turn this week after Democratic candidate Katie Porter found herself publicly fact-checked during a CNN interview — all while launching explosive accusations against fellow Democrats and sounding alarms about the state of her own party.
If Democrats hoped for a smooth primary season, they may want to buckle up.
During an appearance on CNN’s *Inside Politics* with Dana Bash, Porter unleashed accusations against billionaire activist Tom Steyer, claiming he was behind the leak of an embarrassing video from several years ago showing Porter in a heated exchange with a staffer.
But there was one problem.
She offered no evidence.
“Well, given that Tom Steyer is the person who leaked the video with me and the staffer from five years ago, he pretty clearly wanted to be governor bad enough to knock me down to do it,” Porter declared during the interview.
That’s when CNN’s Dana Bash stepped in.
“I should note that we don’t have evidence that Steyer leaked that video of you,” Bash responded plainly. “If you have it, please bring it.”
For Porter, the moment was awkward — particularly because the accusation came during a nationally televised interview where facts still occasionally matter.
The video at the center of the controversy reportedly shows Porter berating a staff member in an exchange critics say reinforced long-running rumors about her temperament and workplace behavior. Porter has claimed she was told the footage originated from inside the Department of Energy and suggested Steyer’s political team was behind its release.
Steyer’s campaign wasted no time denying the allegation.
“Tom has nothing to do with that video,” campaign spokesperson Sepi Esfahlani said, dismissing Porter’s accusations as little more than political deflection.
“This is an attempt from Katie Porter to deflect from her past mistakes,” Esfahlani added.
That sharp response only added fuel to what increasingly looks less like a campaign and more like a Democratic civil war.
And Porter wasn’t done.
She also took aim at another Democratic rival, former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, warning that unresolved questions surrounding a corruption investigation tied to his former campaign operation could become politically disastrous.
“The simple fact is Secretary Becerra cannot promise Californians that he will not be named as a co-conspirator in this corruption charge,” Porter claimed.
That’s a serious accusation — especially in a race already riddled with ideological fractures and political baggage.
Dana Bash again pressed Porter, noting Becerra has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.
“Are you saying that you don’t believe that that’s true?” Bash asked.
Rather than back off, Porter doubled down.
“I do not have the facts here,” she admitted, before speculating that individuals currently negotiating plea deals in Sacramento may eventually implicate him.
“If they implicate him, I have zero doubt that he will be indicted,” Porter said.
Her reasoning, however, raised eyebrows.
Porter warned that if Becerra made it into California’s top-two primary system alongside Republican Steve Hilton, Democrats could actually lose the governor’s mansion.
In other words, Porter appears deeply worried that Democratic infighting — and scandal — could accidentally open the door for Republicans.
For conservatives watching California politics, the moment felt revealing.
After decades of one-party dominance, Democrats increasingly seem locked in open warfare with one another, trading accusations, questioning ethics, and publicly undermining fellow members of their own party.
Becerra’s camp pushed back quickly.
A spokesperson dismissed Porter’s comments outright, noting that federal authorities had already examined the matter.
“The FBI looked into this and found no wrongdoing by Xavier Becerra,” the spokesperson said, adding that Porter was “grasping at straws.”
By the end of the interview, even Bash appeared to recognize the political fireworks she had just hosted, extending an invitation for Becerra to respond on-air.
For now, California voters are witnessing a remarkable spectacle: Democrats spending less time attacking Republicans and more time attacking each other.
And if this is how the primary is unfolding already, the real fight may just be getting started.
