Karen Bass Cancels Next Debate After Spencer Pratt Smackdown

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has decided to skip out on the upcoming mayoral debate scheduled for Wednesday, according to debate organizers who posted on social media over the weekend.

Campaign spokesman Alex Stack said Bass will instead travel to Sacramento, where she will be “fighting for critical state funding for housing, homelessness, and Palisades recovery, and will also discuss the city and state partnership on the Olympics and World Cup,” according to City News Service.

“It’s time to move past debates,” Stack said on why the mayor pulled out of a scheduled debate with the primary election less than a month away.

“Mayor Bass’s withdrawal is disappointing. Public forums such as this are a cornerstone of democratic accountability. These forums provide voters with the opportunity to hear candidates share their perspectives, respond to questions, and engage with one another on issues facing Los Angeles,” a statement from The League of Women Voters and the Pat Brown Institute said.

According to documents posted by Mike Bonin, executive director of the Pat Brown Institute, Bass had signed papers agreeing to the debate April 22. However, on May 9, just three days after a debate against fellow candidates Spencer Pratt and Nithya Raman, Bass changed her mind. 

In a comment to the New York Post, Bonin said Bass’ team told reporters she would be in Sacramento, but “at no point did the mayor’s campaign indicate they had a conflict on the date that they chose and confirmed.”

Eric Daugherty, chief content officer at The Right News, said he thinks the reason for Bass’ last-minute cancellation is because she was “destroyed by Spencer Pratt” in last week’s debate.

Daugherty’s response is based in part on an online poll taken after the NBC 4 Los Angeles debate, which asked viewers who won. Pratt won 88%, followed by Bass, at 7%, and Raman, at only 5%.

Pratt, who was not scheduled to attend the upcoming debate on Wednesday, has continued his criticism of both Bass and Raman.

In an interview with the “All in Podcast,” Pratt said he is gaining ground in the mayoral race by sharing “facts and the truth” while his opponents are “pathological liars.”

“I just wish it had been two or three hours, because of the list of their failures that we didn’t even get to touch on. … What people don’t realize is they’re pathological liars. So, when someone gets to be on the stage with only facts and the truth … that’s why there’s this incredible response,” Pratt said.