Trump Finds a Way to Slow Down Spencer Pratt In L.A.
On Wednesday, Donald Trump endorsed fellow reality TV veteran Spencer Pratt’s Los Angeles mayoral bid. “I’d like to see him do well, he’s a character,” he told a group of reporters, adding: “I heard he’s a big MAGA person.”
Across the country, and especially in its deepest-red bastions, GOP political hopefuls vie for Trump’s support, which is powerful in primaries and less effective in general elections, especially in swing states. The President has wielded his kingmaker status as both loyalty-enforcement tool (elevating Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a Senate seat contest opposite incumbent John Cornyn) and purge mechanism against critics (as when he yesterday ousted a longtime nemesis, conservative Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie). Trump has also backed GOP California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton, buoying the former Fox News host’s candidacy in a large, fragmented field that also includes a popular MAGA-approved county sheriff.
Yet for Pratt, a registered Republican who’s spent the race positioning himself as a non-partisan and independent, the endorsement is likely a poisoned chalice. He’s well-aware that the city is heavily liberal and votes Democrat by a substantial margin. (Los Angeles County broke for Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election by a 65 percent to 32 percent margin.)
It hasn’t elected a GOP member as mayor in nearly three decades. So, like many other Republicans who’ve run over the years for public office throughout L.A. — or, for that matter, utilized a dating app or attended a social event within city limits — he downplays his political identity to the point of self-erasure.
Pratt, who previously acknowledged voting for Trump, has told CBS: “All my supporters in Los Angeles are Democrats. Everyone I know, my family, are all Democrats.” To NBC he explained that ballots will list him as “Spencer Pratt, community advocate, because that’s how I identify,” insisting: “I do not represent a party.” (The Hollywood Reporter’s review of L.A. City Ethics Commission filings found that GOP operatives form the backbone of his campaign.)
Nithya Raman, his key rival for the second slot in the June 2 election to make the November runoff (incumbent Democrat mayor Karen Bass has the lead in polls), clearly sees Trump’s blessing as a boon to her own bid. “It’s no surprise Donald Trump supports his L.A. Apprentice and ‘Big MAGA person’ Spencer Pratt,” the left-wing L.A. City Councilmember said in a statement her campaign issued shortly after the president made his comments. “Trump wants a MAGA foothold in one of the most progressive cities in America.”
For his part, Pratt responded to Raman online with a meme of himself rolling his eyes. He didn’t respond to THR’s inquiry about the endorsement.
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