Tipsheet

Karen Bass Can’t Handle Spencer Pratt’s Brutal AI Campaign Ads

Dmitri Bolt
Dmitri Bolt  |  May 14, 2026 11:30 AM

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said during an interview, Wednesday that she finds Spencer Pratt's AI-generated attack ads to be “violent” and “hateful,” as she leaned into the Democrats’ familiar strategy of labeling Republican rhetoric as dangerous.

Bass argued that Pratt’s ads are so “hateful” and so intent on “demonizing” political opponents that she worries an unstable individual could take them seriously and act violently. The irony is striking, as Democrats like Bass have refused to confront their own party’s increasingly heated rhetoric toward President Trump, rhetoric that comes amid a third assassination attempt against him just weeks ago.

"But what's worrying me now is that his social media is now taking on a violent turn," the L.A. mayor said. "And that worries me, because when you do that, and when your messages are so hateful, or when you demonize people, then you do provoke people who are unstable, and you can jeopardize people's safety."

"You mean like the throwing of the tomatoes?" 

"Well, the throwing of the tomatoes, which look like blood, or drowning me and the governor in a reservoir. But there's also other violent scenes. And so I've noticed that it's taking on a violent trend," she added.

Republicans, meanwhile, have praised Pratt’s attack ads for driving home the argument that Mayor Bass and other progressive leaders governing Los Angeles have presided over the steady decline of one of America’s most iconic cities. A job he has done so well that Pratt has now surged in the polls in the mayoral race.

This comes as both of Pratt’s opponents, Mayor Bass and socialist L.A. City Councilwoman Nithya Raman backed out of this week’s mayoral debate without explanation, though many observers believe it stemmed from Pratt’s aggressive debate style and his commanding performance in the previous debate, where his opponents struggled to effectively respond to his attacks on their horrendously incompetent governance