The viral videos with whiteboards are gone. Her seat in Congress is gone, too. And apparently, former Rep. Katie Porter's brash reputation never left.

The ex-Orange County congresswoman – who left the U.S. House to run for Senate and ultimately lost to Sen. Adam Schiff last year – is now the early frontrunner to become California's next governor in the race to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom.

But Republicans and Porter's Democratic primary opponents have seized on an interview from last month that widely surfaced the week of Oct. 6 in which she reprimands CBS News California journalist Julie Watts multiple times.

"What do you say to the 40 percent of California voters, who you'll need in order to win, who voted for (President Donald) Trump?" Watts asked. Then Porter said, "How would I need them in order to win, ma'am?" expressing some level of disapproval with the question while letting out a laugh.

Porter continued, referencing her three terms representing a "purple" Orange County swing district: "I have stood on my own two feet and won Republican votes before, and that's not something every candidate in this race can say."

Watts pointed out that Porter "just said you don't need those Trump voters" which led the law professor to raise her hands and claim the interview was "unnecessarily argumentative." USA TODAY has reached out to Porter's campaign for comment.

When Watts responded by telling Porter that she asked every gubernatorial candidate the same question, Porter said "I don't want to keep doing this, I'm going to call it. Thank you," prompting Porter to remove a mic from her dress.

Watts questioned if she was really going to end the interview and Porter said she had never ended an interview, but there were "seven follow ups to every single question you ask."

The investigative reporter said her job was to ask follow up questions, but Porter insisted that "I don't want to have an unhappy experience with you and I don't want this all on camera."

Porter's primary opponents, including former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Biden era U.S. Health and Human Services secretary Xavier Becerra and California state superintendent Tony Thurmond have chided Porter for her comments.

While Porter leads the race in early polls after former Vice President Kamala Harris passed on running in 2026, the possible entrance of the state's senior Sen. Alex Padilla could complicate matters for Porter. During the Watts interview, Porter said she "has the support in terms of name recognition" to win the gubernatorial race.

Katie Porter won restraining order against ex-boyfriend Julian Willis last year

During her time in Congress, Porter rose to national prominence with videos that went viral of her social media clashes during congressional hearings where she displayed figures on whiteboards.

Despite a national profile, her tenure was plagued by a sometimes tense relationship with Democratic leadership, allegations of staff mistreatment and past claims of domestic abuse by her ex-husband.

During an April 2023 appearance on "The View," Porter addressed allegations that she created a "toxic workplace."

"I saw this as a professor, certainly: Female professors, particularly women of color, get much worse teaching evaluations ... even when all the professional evaluations are the same, so we see this again and again," Porter said.

Porter said that "lots of (these) so-called 'bad bosses' are women and, disproportionately, people of color."

"I think it's really unfortunate, because those are the very voices we need more of in our government," Porter added. "So I'm proud of my staff. I’m proud of the relationship we've built. I'm proud to have them as my team moving forward."

Last year, shortly before leaving Congress, Porter was granted a five-year restraining order against ex-boyfriend Julian Willis, according to The Los Angeles Times and The Orange County Register.

(This story has been updated with new information.)

Contributing: Paris Barraza, The Desert Sun

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Katie Porter goes viral again. This time, for berating a reporter.

Reporting by Jay Stahl, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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