Following his loss in the Los Angeles mayoral primary election to Democrats Karen Bass and Nithya Raman, Republican candidate Spencer Pratt—the former reality TV star of The Hills—lashed out at the opposition, declaring "war" and threatening to "expose this corrupt machine."
Pratt announced his mayoral campaign roughly a year after his home was destroyed in the Pacific Palisades wildfire. He traveled to Washington to meet with then-Attorney General Pam Bondi and other federal officials about pursuing an investigation into California Governor Gavin Newsom and incumbent Los Angeles Mayor Bass, whom he criticized over their handling of the disaster.
Pratt has received backing from a number of Republicans, including President Donald Trump. At one stage of the race, Pratt held an eight-point advantage over Raman in the battle for second place. But as election officials continued counting mail-in ballots in the days following the election, his lead steadily narrowed. By the time more votes were tabulated, Raman had overtaken him.
Republicans have since alleged fraud took place but many of the fraud allegations appear to stem from a misunderstanding of how California counts votes, particularly the time required to complete the process.
California uses a nonpartisan "jungle" primary system, in which the top two vote-getters advance to the general election regardless of party affiliation. Because the state relies heavily on mail-in voting and must process millions of ballots, final results in major races can take days or even weeks to be fully certified.
Pratt responded to his loss by posting a video titled "Saving LA - Phase III" in which he said:
"Now that the campaign portion of my mission to save Los Angeles is coming to a close and I'm moving on to the next more interesting phase. Listen, I've spent a lot of time slaying everybody. I've ridiculed everyone on the roster."
And I just want to say from the bottom of my heart, I'd like to take the chance to apologize to absolutely nobody. You think you can get rid of me that easily? I know a lot of dimwitted jerks thought I was in this for a grift, that I was going to roll up and leave town if I didn't get into City Hall."
"Hey morons, I didn't get in this for political power. I got in this to expose this corrupt machine, and nothing has changed. You enjoy your worthless meetings in City Hall."
"I'm going to be lighting you up every single day and now I don't have to worry about offending CNN viewers. I don't have a campaign laws hamstringing me now. It's war."
"It's zero hour for Los Angeles. Angelenos are now stuck with two morons responsible for all their problems and they have to choose between dumb and dumber. That's not a choice. That's the machine protecting the machine."
"And now every problem that plagues Los Angeles because of these two corrupt communists is going to accelerate and the city will tumble headlong into the abyss. You have no idea how many major developers, hoteliers, business owners, entrepreneurs have been texting me saying they're packing up and leaving town."
Pratt painted a desolate picture for the future of Los Angeles before claiming he had evidence of wrongdoing on the part of one of the Democratic candidates "that would make her resign in shame":
"More of your favorite restaurants will be shuttering. That means less tax revenue. That means the city has to cut services. More potholes, less firefighters, less police patrols, more criminals, more drug addicts terrorizing your communities. And we haven't ended it. You have no idea how bad things are about to get for this city."
"Look at this place already. Weeds growing from every crack and crevice, graffiti over every square inch of public space, garbage, drugs, feces, burned-up dogs, burned-down towns, abandoned storefronts. This city is a mess and you're about to reward the arsonist who torched a place with four more years of destruction."
"My goal hasn't changed. I've been laser-focused on stopping these commie animals, and I will stop them. If you think we uncovered a lot of fraud and evil in the campaign, just wait. We have some recordings of one of your exalted candidates doing and saying something that would make her resign in shame. I was saving it for the general election."
"Go ahead and pick your demon, certify your choice, and then you get to see it. 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 because you know who hasn't slept well at all for the last 17 months? My mom. All my neighbors in the Palisades. All the moms who worry about their kids walking past drug addicts in front of their schools."
"All the business owners getting crushed in the LA economy, worried that they can't stay in business and feed their kids. Angelenos have been struggling for years now, all while corrupt politicians and fraudulent NGOs profit off the misery and fleece us for the tax dollars."
He concluded with the following threat:
"Well, now we're flipping the script. I want all of you awake at night, sweating and worried about 5 am when an FBI blazer busts in the door, breaking open your office, because I assure you, they're coming."
"You think your election was going to stop me? If you want to stop me, you're going to have to f**king kill me."
You can hear what he said in the video below.
People are not buying Pratt's stunt.
Pratt has since claimed he's the victim of "arsonists" after authorities initiated an investigation into the fire that broke out at his campaign office in the Pacific Palisades.
Pratt says people have threatened "to dox where my children sleep."
Riiiight. We wonder when he'll present that "evidence" he says he has.
