Add The California Post on Google Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is facing accusations of xenophobia after she mocked a gubernatorial candidate’s accent — and shockingly claimed that a November election is unnecessary because California has so many Democrats.
Bass, who is defending her seat against challenger Nithya Raman, made a recent appearance on iHeart podcast show Flagrant and Funny to talk about her re-election bid and the general direction of Los Angeles. She also waded into the California governor’s race.
“The governor’s race right now is over,” Bass claimed. “Our governor’s name is Xavier Becerra. You don’t need an election on November 3rd.”
Karen Bass mocks Hilton. YouTube/Flagrant and Funny w/ Cari Champion & Jemele Hill She was referring Republican candidate Steve Hilton’s uphill battle against Becerra, a Democrat, in deep-blue California. Polls have shown Becerra with a commanding lead.
“A Republican cannot win in this state,” Bass said, before going on to add, with a tone of incredulity, “and yet a Republican with a British accent!?”
“I know, right?” one of the podcast hosts laughed.
Hilton was later asked by a Fox reporter about Bass’s remarks, and he noted the irony of how many Democrats take pains to call out racism and emphasize the need for free and fair elections.
“These are the people who lecture us all the time about democracy, saying ‘Oh, don’t bother voting. The Democrat always wins,'” Hilton said.
“These are the people who lecture us all the time about racism, attacking people because of their accent? Attacking an immigrant — is that what Karen Bass is all about?” Hilton added.
Steve Hilton gives an interview to Matthew Seedorff. Hilton was responding to comments by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. X/@MattSeedorff Hilton, an immigrant from the United Kingdom, then points the camera to all the trash on a Los Angeles sidewalk that he was visiting.
“Rather than making stupid, personal insults, why don’t you clean up your city, Karen Bass?” the gubernatorial candidate said.
Other prominent critics also jumped on the mayor’s remarks as evidence that a non-Democrat needs to be voted in.
“This is what happens when you have one-party rule: these politicians take you for granted and don’t even try to earn your vote,” said former mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt. “If you Democrats actually want your politicians to do something for you, you need to hand them an L once in a while.”
The Post reached out to the Bass campaign for comment on the backlash.
While Bass has confidently declared victory for Becerra, her own fate is not as sure. A bombshell poll this week showed her challenger, socialist city council candidate Nithya Raman, surging to an 11-point lead with less than six weeks until the vote.
The Bass campaign has dismissed that poll as an “outlier.”
“One outlier poll which got the June primary wrong isn’t reflective of the energy we see when talking to voters every day and what every other poll indicates — this is going to be a close race,” campaign spokesman Alex Stack told the California Post.
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