Mayoral candidate is 'winning the internet'
Spencer Pratt is harnessing the web to shake things up. He has leapt into the usually more mundane world of municipal politics with brash and extreme rhetoric, taking to TikTok, with direct-to-camera videos condemning Bass' response to the devastating Pacific Palisades wildfires that claimed his family's home.
But can he win the race? Pratt's campaign borrows from the combative and mocking style of politics popular in fringe online forums and celebrated by allies of President Trump. He's amplified outlandish artificial intelligence videos, tapped an army of freelance"clippers" to edit short social media snippets of him bashing the city's leaders; and he talks about nonexistent"super meth" plaguing the city's streets and pushed false narratives about California lawmakers' response to the Palisades Fire.
"Winning the internet is not the same thing as winning the election, but it can help," said former L.A. Councilmember Mike Bonin, who now directs the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at Cal State Los Angeles. Internet notoriety, though, cannot dislodge one fact about Los Angeles: Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans three to one, presenting Pratt with a serious challenge if he advances to the November runoff.
While Pratt is a registered Republican, he has tried to separate himself from the MAGA movement and has repeatedly highlighted how the mayor's race in Los Angeles is nonpartisan. To Spencer Pratt and his supporters, becoming mayor of Los Angeles first means winning the internet.an army of freelance"clippers" to edit short social media snippets of him bashing the city's leaders; and he talks about nonexistentIt's perhaps no surprise that the 42-year-old former villain of the reality television show"The Hills" knows how to work the attention economy, but he's doing so by borrowing the combative and mocking style of politics popular in fringe online forums and celebrated by allies of President Trump.
"He's probably the most Trumpian candidate we've ever seen in terms of house style," said Steve Bannon, Trump's former top adviser. "Trump's superpower was bringing in people into politics who hate politics, and that's what he's doing online right now. "On June 2, Angelenos will go to the polls for the city's"jungle primary," a nonpartisan contest where Pratt, a Republican, will face off against Democratic incumbent Bass and progressive council member Nithya Raman.
If any candidate surpasses 50% of the vote, that person becomes mayor. If nobody does, the top two vote getters compete in a November runoff. Polls show Pratt and Raman neck and neck, with Bass commanding a comfortable lead. He has leapt into the usually more mundane world of municipal politics with brash and extreme rhetoric, taking to TikTok, with direct-to-camera videos condemning Bass' response to the devastating Pacific Palisades wildfires that claimed his family's home.
He describes Bass as"the mayor who let the town burn down.
","a city battered by fires, homelessness and crime," a framing that would sound familiar to anyone watching right-wing influencers and streamers. He's accused Bass and Raman of"running a grift with the Homeless Industrial Complex," a vague and unsubstantiated claim aimed at whipping up his fans online, according to Dan Cassino, a professor of government at Fairleigh Dickinson University who studies masculinity and politics.
"These are the sorts of things that play very well in red-pilled forums where there's this idea that everyone is in control of their lives and 'we need to embrace hard truths out there that they won't teach you in school,'" he said.from podcaster Joe Rogan, Cassino said, is proof of Pratt's credibility in the manosphere, the bro-friendly world of male influencers who wage war against polite society. "Focusing on this audience is a way to target young men," Cassino said.
"Just as Trump did in 2024, and now we see Spencer Pratt doing the same thing. "Former Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Bonin has been watching Pratt's campaign morph from unserious long-shot to top three contender. Pratt had a megaphone of millions of social media followers before he ran for public office. That has helped supercharge the spread of the AI slop videos his fans have made.
So has Elon Musk's repeated re-sharing and replies to Pratt's content on X, the platform the tech mogul owns, to his 240 million followers. When Pratt wants his incendiary campaign messages and AI content to spread even farther, conservative influencers like Laura Loomer, Ben Shapiro and Benny Johnson are at the ready, commenting and reposting to juice Pratt's reach.
"Winning the internet is not the same thing as winning the election, but it can help," said Bonin, who now directs the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at Cal State Los Angeles. He points to how the kinetic digital campaign of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani inundated Instagram Reels and TikTok with videos showing how natural and conversant he was with the format.
The difference with Pratt, Bonin said, is that he's using the leverage of the well-oiled right-wing online media machine.
"Unlike left-leaning candidates, right-leaning candidates come into an internet ecosystem that is well-practiced in promoting itself through its various networks," he said. "been reinforcing the supposed dystopian crisis Los Angeles has been living through, and that is a big part of Pratt's narrative," Bonin said. Raman, through a spokesman, dismissed Pratt's online tactics, saying the AI slop videos show how out of touch he is with something that's an existential concern to the city's entertainment industry.
"Hollywood jobs are being devastated by AI, meanwhile Spencer Pratt is using his platform to promote AI-generated content amplifying the very technology replacing the workers he claims to care about," Raman said in a statement. "Our videos are made by working film and television professionals who believe Los Angeles can be better. "There are two ways to respond to this: Try to meet Pratt on his level, or don't participate at all.
Cassino, the government professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University, said Raman and Bass are taking"the Rose Garden strategy" by not trying to match the intensity and absurdity of Pratt's online campaign, which he said is probably politically wise.
"He's more chronically online than they are. He has fans who generate this stuff for him in a way that they don't, so any attempt for them to do this will make them look inauthentic," he said.
It is difficult to gauge how much of Pratt's content and rage-baiting is coming across the social media feeds of Los Angeles voters, but, at least on X, he's been praised as the candidate who is the mostHis favorite pejorative for Bass is"Karen Basura," which is Spanish for trash. And he calls the mayor's supporters"Bassholes" — cruel, bully-like language that Cassino said is catering to young men online.
"If people are voting for Spencer Pratt because they think it's funny versus because they seriously want him to be mayor, the vote still counts," Cassino said. However it is resonating or not with voters, Pratt is not slowing his inflammatory language and pugnacious tone. It's a posture being lapped up by the online MAGA sphere. It also represents the new template for right-wing political candidates, both national and local, Bannon added.
"Pratt knows it's not politics, it's drama," said Bannon, who was a Hollywood financier before he got into politics. "He's got a warrior mentality. " If Bannon found any criticism of Pratt's campaign, it would be Pratt's shameless promotion of AI slop.
A fierce critic of Silicon Valley, Bannon said the videos are entertaining, but they risk turning off voters who can see them as trivializing the race, not to mention how the internet is already glutted with AI junk and fakes.
"On the AI slop, he's one inch away from jumping the shark," Bannon said. "It can be effective, but it's starting to get tiresome, and it could backfire if you promote it too much. "And that's because, while Pratt is a registered Republican, he has tried to separate himself from the MAGA movement and has repeatedly highlighted how the mayor's race in Los Angeles is nonpartisan.
It's a tightrope walk that Bannon, one of the chief architects of the MAGA movement, is keenly attuned to as he offers conditional praise for Pratt.is both illegal and dangerous. At the same time, former Jan. 6 defendants are already preparing their applications to the fund and anticipating major payouts. The Justice Department has indicated that the fund will be used to compensate an unspecified group of people"who suffered weaponization and lawfare" under previous presidential administrations.
It is widely expected that at least some of the money will go to Trump supporters who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, and later received presidential pardons. Facing questions from members of Congress and reporters, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Vice President JD Vance did not rule out payments to Jan. 6 rioters convicted of violent crimes against police officers.is both illegal and dangerous.
At the same time, former Jan. 6 defendants are already preparing their applications to the fund and anticipating major payouts. The Justice Department has indicated that the fund will be used to compensate an unspecified group of people"who suffered weaponization and lawfare" under previous presidential administrations. It is widely expected that at least some of the money will go to Trump supporters who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, and later received presidential pardons.
Facing questions from members of Congress and reporters, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Vice President JD Vance did not rule out payments to Jan. 6 rioters convicted of violent crimes against police officers. A screenshot of a video showing D.C. Metropolitan police officer Daniel Hodges being attacked at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Daniel Hodges, a Washington, D.C.
, police officer who was repeatedly assaulted and crushed in a door frame by Jan. 6 rioters, is one of the plaintiffs seeking to block the fund.
"Why would you pay people who attacked the police at the Capitol of the United States who tried to stop the peaceful transfer of power? " Hodges told NPR. "Why would you pay people who wanted to assassinate the vice president? You know, the list goes on and on.
It doesn't make any sense.
" Hodges said he and other officers who defended the Capitol continue to receive death threats, and that giving money to the people convicted of assaulting police could feed further harassment and violence. "If they get this payout, then they'll have significant financial resources," Hodges said,"and they have no ethical qualms about it, so what would stop them from carrying out any more violence? " Hodges continues to serve on Washington, D.C.
's Metropolitan Police Department and spoke to NPR in his personal capacity. Former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn joined the lawsuit, which names acting Attorney General Blanche, as well as President Donald Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent as defendants. Dunn and Hodges are represented by Brendan Ballou, a former federal prosecutor who worked on Jan. 6 cases and now leads the anti-corruption group Public Integrity Project.
Former Department of Justice Special Counsel Brendan Ballou speaks during a hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Capitol Hill on Jan. 7.
"The Trump slush fund is potentially the most corrupt act of presidential power in American history," Ballou told NPR. The lawsuit targets the unusual way in which the fund was created. Trump sued the federal government — of which he is the head — for $10 billion over the IRS leak of his private tax records, and then created this fund as part of a settlement over the claim.
The lawsuit also notes that Trump's mass pardons restored gun rights for many Jan. 6 defendants. The"Anti-Weaponization Fund," Ballou argues, could also provide them with a major financial windfall.
"They can get money, they can get guns," Ballou said. "And right now they have the endorsement of the president showing that they will be financially rewarded for their violence. "Jake Lang used a bat to attack police protecting the Capitol on Jan. 6. His trial for assault and other charges was pending when Trump ordered the case dismissed and released him from jail.
Lang does not dispute that he used the bat against police, but argues that his actions were justified as self-defense, because he believed that the 2020 election had been stolen. When contacted by NPR for comment on Wednesday, Lang answered the phone by saying,"Jake Lang's office, America's newest billionaire.
" Lang said he was joking about becoming a billionaire, but confirmed that he plans to apply for compensation through the"Anti-Weaponization Fund" and expects other Jan. 6 defendants to do the same. "The misdemeanor cases should be looking to receive several hundred thousand dollars," Lang said,"and some of the cases like mine may be looking at upwards of a million dollars.
""If you sacrifice for your country, if you do the right thing in the face of evil, you will be rewarded for your bravery, for your patriotism, for the love of your country," Lang said. "That's the message President Trump is sending. " Jake Lang , who was charged with eight counts of assaulting officers before his pardon, threatens D.C.
Metropolitan Police officer, including Commander Jason Bagshaw , during a Jan. 6 rally and memorial march marking five years since the attack on Jan. 6, 2026 in Washington, D.C. If Lang receives compensation from the Trump administration, the money could go towards his legal expenses. He is currently facingLang is one of dozens of former Jan. 6 defendants who have been charged or convicted of additional crimes since Trump issued mass pardons to the rioters.
Johnson told his victims that he would share a portion of restitution money that he expected to receive from the Trump Administration.
"This tactic was believed to be used to keep from exposing what Andrew had done to him," the affidavit said. Andrew Paul Johnson was sentenced to life in prison for sexually abusing children. He received a full pardon from President Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 riot.
The mother of one of the victims, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect her child's privacy, told NPR that Johnson told the children he would buy them things with"my Trump bucks.
" Johnson made those comments well before the announcement of the"Anti-Weaponization Fund," but at a time when some Trump Justice Department officials, including U.S. Pardon Attorney Ed Martin, were publicly discussing"We were scared," Johnson's other victim testified. "Like, we didn't realize that this stuff was not okay because we were 12 years old. " U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.
, pressed Blanche about Johnson's case at a congressional committee hearing. Vance said that law schools and the media are biased "There are people who objectively committed heinous crimes, but the American media and the American legal academy has decided that even though they committed bad crimes, their sentence was disproportionate — they were mistreated in some way," Vance said.
"You know who never ever gets an ounce of sympathy when it comes to that disproportionate sentencing is people who voted for Donald Trump and participated in the Jan. 6 protest. "of the nearly 1,600 Jan. 6 criminal cases, the median prison sentence for Capitol riot defendants was 30 days.
About a third of the rioters who went through sentencing received no jail time.voting on whether to pay more for street light repairs — an area of funding that has been frozen since the 1990s. An increased budget could mean faster repair times and more efficient maintenance. But — why is voting on this issue set up this way? Why vote now now?
And what will your vote mean? , a statewide ballot proposition made it a requirement for municipalities to seek voter approval for general taxes and fees, such as increasing streetlight funding. — an area of funding that has been frozen since the 1990s. An increased budget could mean faster repair times and more efficient maintenance.
Why the vote? L.A. established the Bureau of Street Lighting in 1925 — when the city was much smaller. In partnership with property developers, the bureau helped build a patchwork of streetlights. In 1996, Proposition 218 required municipalities to seek voter approval for general taxes and fees, such as increasing streetlight funding.
Since then, assessment funds, which account for 90% of the bureau's revenue, have been frozen, leaving the bureau chronically underfunded, according to Miguel Sangalang, the executive director and general manager for the Bureau of Street Lighting. The city's Bureau of Street Lighting says that it takes one year on average to complete repairs due to budgetary constraints. Last year, the bureau had a third party verify and assess the funding it needed to operate — an estimated $125 million.
If you received a ballot, you must return it by allots are coincidentally due on June 2. This is a Every property gets one vote, though each ballot is weighted based on how much a property owner is expected to pay. Approval of the new assessment would also institute a three-year audit, meaning a third party would account for how the Bureau of Street Lighting spends the money. The L.A.
City Council could also supplement the bureau's budget, which it has done in the past, according to Sangalang. City Council offices can assist with repairs in their districts through discretionary funds. The mayor also has the ability to fund such projects through an executive order. Calling your local council member's office and asking for more funds to go to local street light improvements could help expedite the repair completion process.
If you're enjoying this article, you'll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less. A detail of the illustrated mural inside Yi Cha, a Korean eatery on Figueroa Street in Highland Park, bursts with colorful hand-drawn characters, Korean text, and neighborhood references.
Best known for creating the eerie child’s painting in Bong Joon Ho’s masterpiece, visual artist ZiBeZi brings his vibrant, boundary-free style to Chef Debbie Lee’s Yi-Cha. , you’ve likely noticed the colorful, cartoon-style mural at the entrance. The vibrant painting features food, animals, nature and bold Korean words such as “Awesome” and “Let’s Eat. ” It also captures the lively spirit of Highland Park in Northeast Los Angeles.
“Parasite,” one of ZiBeZi’s abstract paintings appears as a prop — a child’s drawing that seems innocent but quietly signals something more unsettling. The placement introduced his work to a global audience, a moment that helped shift the trajectory of his career. , you’ve likely noticed the colorful, cartoon-style mural at the entrance. The vibrant painting features food, animals, nature and bold Korean words such as “Awesome” and “Let’s Eat.
” It also captures the lively spirit of Highland Park in Northeast Los Angeles. Last week, in honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander History Month, Lee hosted a meet-and-greet with the mural’s artist, Korean visual artist ZiBeZi.
“This event our way of saying thank you to him, and to our guests who have fallen in love with his work,” Chef Lee told The LA Local. She commissioned ZiBeZi to paint the mural last fall when she opened her restaurant. ZiBeZi, whose given name is Jung Jae-hoon, did not begin as a visual artist. For more than a decade, he worked as a rapper, shaping stories through rhythm and lyrics.
Painting came later, after what he describes as a difficult period in his life, when drawing became a form of recovery — a way, he said, “to breathe and heal. ” That origin still lingers beneath the surface of his work. His paintings, at first glance, lean whimsical: rounded forms, bright palettes, a sense of motion that feels almost childlike. But look longer and the compositions begin to open up into something more layered and introspective.
“I enjoy creating scenes where humans, nature, animals and the universe coexist without boundaries,” ZiBeZi told The LA Local. “On the surface, the work may feel playful or cartoon-like, but underneath, there are emotions, memories and questions about life. ”“Parasite,” one of ZiBeZi’s abstract paintings appears as a prop — a child’s drawing that seems innocent but quietly signals something more unsettling.
The placement introduced his work to a global audience, a moment that helped shift the trajectory of his career.
“Those experiences gave me confidence to continue creating,” he said, “while also reminding me to stay true to my own voice and artistic identity. ” At Yi-Cha, that voice takes on a distinctly local resonance. Lee said ZiBeZi approached the mural less as a commission and more as a process of immersion.
“He didn’t just paint a mural he spent time in Highland Park, walked Figueroa, felt the neighborhood. That kind of intention shows in every inch of the wall. ” The result is a piece that bursts with joy. An alien figure hovers near the words “Highland Park,” rendered in Hangul, the Korean alphabet.
There are subtle nods to Yi-Cha’s menu and broader references to Los Angeles, woven together in a way that resists a single interpretation.
“Painting for a restaurant feels very different from exhibiting in a gallery,” ZiBeZi said. “Here, art becomes part of people’s everyday experience — it lives with their laughter, their meals and their memories. ” The mural wall at Yi Cha, a Korean restaurant on Figueroa Street in Highland Park, fills floor to ceiling with whimsical illustrations celebrating the neighborhood and Korean culture.
Under the Transportation Security Administration's new program called TSA Gold+, private companies would play a much larger role in airport security than they have in decades. The agency is billing the program as an update to the Screening Partnership Program, or SPP, in which 20 U.S. airports currently use private security screeners rather than federal workers.
The agency says airports that opt into the program would be able to tailor security systems for their facility — and avoid the TSA staffing shortages that became aFederal officers handle security screening at all but a small fraction of U.S. airports, but the Trump administration is hoping to change that. Under the Transportation Security Administration's new program called TSA Gold+, private companies would play a much larger role in airport security than they have in decades.
The TSA is set to host officials from airports and security contractors to an"industry day" at its Springfield, Va. , headquartersThe agency is billing the program as an update to the Screening Partnership Program, or SPP, in which 20 U.S. airports currently use private security screeners rather than federal workers.
"TSA Gold+ marks a significant evolution in the agency's approach to aviation security," a TSA spokesperson told NPR via an emailed statement. The agency says airports that opt into the program would be able to tailor security systems for their facility — and avoid the TSA staffing shortages that became aIt also says the program would bring"the latest technology" such as AI tools to airport screening operations, to increase capacity and cut wait times, although the agency did not specify how those gains would be achieved.
From the details shared so far, the equipment would be the contractors' responsibility — a departure from the current SPP system, in which TSA controls the equipment and oversees the security contract. The TSA says it would perform the oversight role it currently does.range from San Francisco and Kansas City to Sarasota, Fla. , and Atlantic City, N.J. , along with smaller facilities in Montana, Wyoming and other states.
Calls for privatizing airport security screening have come from President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress, echoing a recommendation in the conservatives'for a second Trump term. But there are also signs of bipartisan interest in some level of private control over airport security, as seen in Atlanta, whereRep. Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y. , chair of the House Committee on Homeland Security, touted that bipartisan interest on Wednesday during a hearing on TSA Modernization.
But Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees union, which represents TSA officers, said he opposes further privatization — including the TSA Gold+ program, warning that it would hamper accountability and transparency. Under the new program, Kelley said, contract workers would earn less than TSA officers.
He added that while many transportation security officers hold security clearances, under the new plan, the government"would be ceding direct operational control of the most sensitive technology in the aviation security enterprise to private vendors.
"But officials at the hearing urged lawmakers to preserve airports' ability to choose. Chris McLaughlin, CEO of Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, noted that the SPP has been in place since aviation security underwent"We've had federalized screening for 25 years, almost," McLaughlin said.
"Large airports like San Francisco have had an SPP program for 25 years. ""The system has been safe for 25 years," he said. "It's important that airports have options. " The new"Gold+" program echoes the Trump administration's promise to bring a"golden age of travel" to the American public.
Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy touted those plans earlier this week, as he
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