Every few years, the national conservative movement coalesces around a Republican in California who they swear will finally break the Democratic grip on the Los Angeles mayoral race.
Last cycle, it was the real estate billionaire Rick Caruso — a mogul who positioned himself at the nexus of respectable Californian fiscal conservatism and the MAGA movement. This cycle, it’s Spencer Pratt, a former reality TV star conservatives are lauding for his performance during the city’s recent mayoral debate, as well as for his campaign videos — particularly a superhero-themed AI one that has gone viral this week.
The video, made by AI filmmaker Charles Curran, depicts prominent California Democrats, including incumbent Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Governor Gavin Newsom, as aristocrats and comic book villains. Kamala Harris is portrayed as a puppet on strings. Pratt helps save the day as a Batman-esque superhero. Here it is:
The visceral unpleasantness of Curran’s video does not seem to affect Pratt’s cadre of conservative boosters, who have lauded the video.
“Maybe the best political ad of the year,” wrote former Donald Trump punching bag Jeb Bush. “This is basically a maximalist expression of what political ads can do,” added disgraced former congressman Matt Gaetz. “This is fantastic,” wrote Fox News host Laura Ingraham.
It isn’t just the AI video. Meghan McCain was an early proponent of Pratt’s campaign, and recently praised his communication style, writing that he represents a “blueprint for how my generation of older millennials needs to communicate and present their ideas and campaign messaging when running for office.” Right-wing influencer Libs of TikTok lauded Pratt’s debate performance, sharing a clip in which he said “no” when asked if noncitizens should be allowed to vote in local elections, while Bass and fellow candidate Nithya Raman explained that it depends and that plenty of noncitizens are living in the United States legally. Right-wing tech guy Chamath Palihapitiya also praised how Pratt handled himself during the debate. “Spencer Pratt is coherent and reasonable,” he wrote. “If he becomes LA’s next mayor he will return that city to safety and greatness. Please watch the entire debate and judge for yourself.”
Elon Musk, another noted right-wing tech guy, is also a fan. The MAGA billionaire retweeted Republican flak Richard Grenell urging people to vote for Pratt. “Anyone in LA who isn’t voting for @spencerpratt is a total idiot,” Grenell wrote. “This isn’t even close.”
Pratt’s campaign has centered around cleaning up the streets of Los Angeles, and drilling down on how the city’s Democratic leadership handled the 2025 wildfires, which burned down Pratt’s Pacific Palisades home. Despite all of the right-wing hype, Pratt is still something of a long shot to win the race in the liberal stronghold, with Bass currently leading most polls, followed by Raman, a local council member.
The praise for Pratt follows a familiar pattern of intense interest in an outlier candidate, but as California’s statewide and municipal elections have grown closer in recent years, there’s always a chance a Pratt or Caruso figure can break through. The right is hoping for its own Zohran Mamdani moment — getting enough social media traffic to make their chosen provocateur break out. But the content itself isn’t the same: while the AI video’s depictions of socialist supersoldiers propping up elite, authoritarian Democrats may titillate national commentators, it seems unlikely that they’ll move the needle as well as Mamdani’s constant live-produced content did.
For Pratt’s part, though, he’s certainly not camera-shy.
