Rep. Katie Porter (D-CA) was slammed online Wednesday after claiming that she lost the Democratic Party’s U.S. Senate nomination because California’s primaries were rigged by billionaires.
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and former Major League Baseball player Steve Garvey, a Republican, both advanced on Tuesday to the November general election.
“Thank you to everyone who supported our campaign and voted to shake up the status quo in Washington. Because of you, we had the establishment running scared — withstanding 3 to 1 in TV spending and an onslaught of billionaires spending millions to rig this election,” Porter claimed on X. “I also want to thank every person who supported us over the past six years. It’s clear Californians are hungry for leaders who break the mold, can’t be bought, and push for accountability in government and across our economy. And that’s exactly what we as Americans deserve.”
“Special interests like politics as it is today because they control the politicians,” she added. “As we’ve seen in this campaign, they spend millions to defeat someone who will dilute their influence and disrupt the status quo. But take my word for it: I’ll never stop fighting for you.”
Porter was criticized for failing to take responsibility for losing.
“Here’s a Democrat who claims her election was ‘rigged,’ I’m certain the MSM will pound her for that,” said former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer. “You’re not allowed to say that — or does that apply to only one person?”
The Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro quipped, “Why don’t you write something on a whiteboard about this.”
Why don’t you write something on a whiteboard about this https://t.co/nRbbq0xXWx
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) March 7, 2024
“I wonder if Katie Porter has considered that she’s just horribly unlikable and not a very good person,” said Republican strategist Matt Whitlock.
CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski noted: “She lost by 20 points, but is saying the election is rigged because she was out spent.”
Democratic strategist and former Obama campaign official Steve Schale added: “I’ve lost races where my candidate got vastly outspent & once when some rich dude dumped 40 million on our head. It completely sucks. But can we stop trying to excuse every loss with the term ‘rig’ or ‘rigged?’ You lost, which I totally get just blows. But that’s all it is.”
Other notable tweets included:
By “the establishment” she means The Penguin, Two-Face, and Catwoman. https://t.co/PIj8xCb32p pic.twitter.com/q69xur1tJc
— Jack Pandol (@jackpandol) March 7, 2024
I updated Katie Porter’s white board for her: https://t.co/n9ht7wzTQO pic.twitter.com/8x6GwTaJWk
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) March 7, 2024