Once upon a time, a reality TV star with a dubious track record of personal bankruptcy, bad business deals, terrible public behavior, and mistreatment of women — but no experience working for the government at any level — decided to run for one of the most high-profile political roles in the country. He was buoyed by large, right-wing social media accounts, as well as rich benefactors, many with their own connections to reality TV. His entire platform was one based on his belittling his female opponent, mirroring back the hate from the people who were more than happy to platform him. Despite having no policy other than parroting some propaganda, he was normalized by the media and others who turned around any criticism of the candidate to bully his critics.
If you were picturing Donald Trump that whole time, you’d be both right and wrong. Because in this case, I don’t mean him.
I mean Spencer “Bel Airstream” Pratt, the current Republican candidate for MAYOR OF LOS ANGELES, which is the second largest city in the United States. Spencer is running on a platform that’s essentially “I’m a white male Republican who’s not Karen Bass” while turning the loss of his home in the devastating Palisades Fire into just another MAGA grift.
Pratt became famous as Heidi Montag’s villainous boyfriend on MTV’s reality series The Hills, which ran from 2006 to 2011. But he had appeared on a show called The Princes of Malibu in 2005, which I’m glad I didn’t know existed until I started researching him for this piece, because I can only imagine the level of douchery on that show.
I’ve also never watched an episode of The Hills, its predecessor, Laguna Beach, or anything else related to the franchise, because I lost all interest in watching reality TV (minus cooking shows and home reno content on HGTV) after the New Orleans season of The Real World. What I knew of any of them was limited to what I absorbed by pop culture osmosis, plus eventually Lauren Conrad had a clothing line at Kohl’s. Otherwise, I couldn’t have had less interest in a bunch of rich teens whining about each other, and I could still be blissfully ignorant of everything about them right now, if only Spencer Pratt hadn’t somehow weaseled his way into California politics.
Pratt embodies the false bravado of all empty MAGA men, pretending he offers more substance and experience than he actually has. Long before he and Heidi lost their house, they went bankrupt after a gleeful shopping spree in 2012 when they thought the world was ending and therefore wouldn’t have to pay for everything they charged on their credit cards.
The only other “job” Pratt can claim on his “resume” is owning a crystal shop after spending even more millions on crystals. He would probably still be working the counter there if it weren’t for the Palisades Fire, which he blamed on California Governor Gavin Newsom for his “mishandling” of the disaster. He is running to "expose the system" which failed to “protect his family.”
MAGA blaming the winds and dry conditions thanks to the current climate emergency they keep denying is fully on brand, but in Pratt’s case, his family’s current “homelessness” — back to that in a moment — is his own fault for not buying homeowner’s insurance despite living in an area prone to earthquakes, mudslides, and wildfires.
Dude, even Trump insured his hotels.
Pratt is otherwise following the Trump playbook, adopting the carnival barker personality and proudly trying to make people believe it’s sunshine coming from his dark side.
Like Trump, Pratty is always making false promises while grifting donations by claiming his family is being forced to live in an Airstream trailer on his scorched property.
In reality, Pratt is living in the Bel Air Hotel, where room rates start at $1,000-a-night and can go as high as $10,000 a night. He blamed that on Karen Bass as well, as if there wasn’t a Motel 6 nearby, or at the very least a Kardashian’s guest house where they could crash, considering they’re openly supporting his run.
Like Trump, Pratt is doing what he can to profit from his candidacy, inking a deal for yet another reality show. Viral videos showed Pratt at the center of a fundraiser hosted by David Foster and Katharine McPhee this week after his weirdly Trumpian performance in last week’s LA Mayoral debate against Bass and the other remaining candidate, Los Angeles Councilmember Nithya Raman.
My cringe has cringe.
There’s plenty of opposition to Pratt among California liberals, of course, with many celebrities taking the time to point out the similarities between Bel Airstream and Epstein’s Best Friend.
Fresh off of reducing MAGA comedian Kill Tony to ashes at Netflix’s Roast of Kevin Hart, Chelsea Handler used her Threads account to remind everyone of what they’re seeing play out in real time.
And like Trump, he doesn’t like it when people remind him that he’s a lying, bankrupt, grifting loser who isn’t qualified to run a crystal store, let alone the City of Los Angeles.
Or the United States of America.
Come on LA voters, I know you’ve had it rough, and I know Mayor Bass hasn’t been performing to your highest standards lately, but you need to learn from history and never repeat it. LA needs a Democratic Mayor who understands the basic concepts of math and government, not another Trump.