“The View” co-host Sara Haines said during the show on Thursday that Katie Porter, who is running for California governor, should “do better” after a clip of her threatening to walk out of an interview with a CBS journalist went viral on Wednesday.

Sara Haines on “The View” on Sept. 26, 2025.

“I do think that if you are running for the fourth-largest economy in the world as governor of California, you are going to be the figurehead of the liberal-leaning left in California. You will be under direct attack at all times. Part of what she was known for was the whiteboard, when she handled really important questions and could handle herself. She was unflappable. In these moments, I don’t think it’s as simple as you’re having a bad day. I actually think she needs to do better, not in gratitude, but respect for other people,” Haines said.

A clip of Porter threatening to walk out on CBS California reporter Julie Watts during an interview on the controversial redistricting effort launched by Democrats in the state spread quickly online Tuesday night. The interview itself was recorded last month.

“On Capitol Hill, they used to do this annual list where they’d interview congressional staff anonymously and it was kind of their way to talk about if they had toxic bosses. She would always rank very high on the list of bosses who treated staff terribly. She had super high staff turnover and to me, that matters. How you treat people who are working around the clock for low pay for you says a lot about you,” co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin said.

She suggested it was more than Porter just having a bad day.

“That was a journalist asking totally fair questions, doing her job. If you can’t answer those questions, you shouldn’t be governor. And by the way, she did sit through the rest of the interview and eventually finished it, but that’s the job – to represent 39 million people,” Griffin continued.

Porter snapped at Watts’ questions, grew visibly impatient with her follow-ups, and even attempted to leave at one point in frustration, calling the interviewer “argumentative.” Porter told Watts after being pressed that she doesn’t “want to have an unhappy experience” with her and that she doesn’t “want this all on camera.”

Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar pointed a finger at President Donald Trump during the “View” discussion and said he tells interviewers, “You are the worst.”

Co-host Ana Navarro argued that Trump was “measured with a different stick.”

Goldberg defended Porter and said she’s also had trouble with journalists as Haines noted that Goldberg was not running for office.

“I would expect something different coming from her,” Haines said. Goldberg disagreed and said they were all just “human beings.”

Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif., speaks at the “Just Majority” Supreme Court press conference on June 22, 2023, in Washington, D.C. 

Journalists across outlets criticized Porter’s interview.

“This will be a case study in political media trainings for how not to conduct yourself on camera,” CNN senior political reporter Aaron Blake wrote.

Fox News’ Alexander Hall and David Rutz contributed to this report.