Spencer Pratt released a video Friday that appeared to concede his loss in the Los Angeles mayoral primary, but quickly turned into a barrage of insults and threats aimed at Mayor Karen Bass and Councilmember Nithya Raman, vowing to keep fighting in the months
Spencer Pratt began his Friday video as if he was closing a chapter, telling viewers the “campaign portion of my mission to save Los Angeles is coming to a close.” Then the tone shifted—hard—and his concession felt less like an ending than a pivot.
In a three-minute video. Pratt said he never got involved “to save face” or seek power. insisting. “I didn’t get into this for political power. I got in it to expose this corrupt machine and nothing has changed.” He then framed the outcome as something more punishing than defeat: Angelenos. he said. were “stuck with two morons responsible for all their problems” and faced a choice between “dumb and dumber. ” warning. “The city will tumble headlong into the abyss.”.
Pratt’s remarks were built on ad hominem attacks. He called Bass and Raman “morons,” “commie animals” and “corrupt communists,” and told Angelenos to “pick your demon.” He also suggested he would use a larger national platform to keep pressing his case against them.
At one point. Pratt appeared to challenge both campaigns indirectly. saying. “We have some recordings of one of your exalted candidates doing and saying something that would make her resign in shame. ” before directing his message to Bass and Raman: “So. Karen. Nithya. ask yourself is it possible that one of your employees may have a recording of you doing or saying something that would force you to resign in disgrace?. Hope you sleep well at night over the next five months.” Neither the Bass nor Raman campaigns immediately responded to a request for comment on the video. and Pratt’s campaign also did not immediately respond.
The video landed after Pratt’s outsider run had surged onto the national stage—amplifying his focus on the city’s homelessness crisis and the Palisades fire and recovery—even as it produced harsh backlash and limited room for mainstream traction.
Despite capturing about 26% of the vote, Pratt fell short of qualifying for the runoff. Councilmember Nithya Raman won 29%, and Mayor Karen Bass secured the first-place spot with 34%. Pratt’s path depended on the runoff format, but the results left him third.
Still, his loss did not appear to silence him. A late May poll by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies. co-sponsored by The Times. found Pratt was viewed unfavorably by 57% of likely voters in the city of Los Angeles—an unfavorable share equal to Bass. who has been mayor for nearly four years. The same poll found only 25% of Angelenos viewed Pratt favorably, aligning with the vote total he received. Pratt acknowledged none of that in a way that sounded like retreat. Instead. he said his defeat would allow him to be more aggressive because he would no longer have “offending CNN viewers” to worry about.
In the video, Pratt portrayed Los Angeles as a dysfunctional hellscape, tying the city’s physical decline to economic fallout. He argued that blight would cause more businesses to close. reducing the city’s revenue and forcing Los Angeles to cut back services—leading. in his words. to “more potholes. less firefighters. less police patrols.”.
He ended with a final warning aimed at both Bass and Raman: they should worry about potential FBI raids at their homes and offices. “You think your election was going to stop me?” Pratt said, ending the video with an image that read “WAR.”
Spencer Pratt Los Angeles mayoral primary Karen Bass Nithya Raman homelessness crisis Palisades fire FBI raids runoff election UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies