L.A. mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt says he doesn’t ‘need anyone’s endorsement’

[0:00] Let's get right into it. You're running against several people, including obviously the incumbent mayor Karen Bass. And recently she said this. She said Spencer is just mad that his supporters are AI cartoons and we have real Angelenos. It sounds like she's not taking you seriously. Do you know what that was the response to? We should tell the viewers. Yes. That was me calling her out for the misdemeanor because she's now facing six years in prison for electioneering because she hosted an event which is [0:30] illegal in the state and the city in front of the ballot box. You're accusing her of that, right? No, no, it's on video. Okay. It's with the LAPD now. So it's not an accusation. She filmed herself because she's so used to not actually caring about the law that she filmed her own crime. So that is a response to me saying. And what did you think about that? Sounds like she's not taking you seriously. She doesn't need to take me serious. It's the LAPD that has the case. I'm not. So good luck, ma'am. Right. But what do you think she's taking you seriously in your support? I do think she's taking me [1:00] very serious. I think that was a silly little response. And again, I don't make any AI. All my ads are made by a director. A shot on a red camera. I don't have one AI. Yeah. So I want to ask you, people are going to be watching this and this is a national audience, right? And they may be asking themselves, what is Spencer Pratt from the hills doing running for the mayor of Los Angeles? How is he qualified? What would you say? Well, thankfully, Mayor Bass's failure was a national story when she let 7,000 homes burn to the ground when she was [1:30] out of the country in Ghana and 12 people, my neighbors burned alive. And when nobody ran against her, I had to step up so that she didn't just go in to get four more years after being an utter failure for Los Angeles. So I think the national story is actually why I'm surging across the country because they say finally someone is stepping up against these politicians that can burn your whole town down, let your tax money all go into increasing drug addicts in front of your, the [2:01] kids at the park or moms going to school with their kids. Enough is enough. You know this. Your persona is a reality star villain. It's always been all about Spencer, at least in front of the cameras. So how do you convince people that you really care about your neighbors? You care about other people. You just don't care about yourself. Because the last decade, more than that, it's been all about Spencer. Well, technically it's been about my wife. Most of my, most of my, I was always fighting for my wife, who I'm now almost 20 years, happily. [2:31] ever after. Or my kids. I was just doing that to make money to pay for my family. But for these people, thankfully, I'm the look around candidate. I just say, look around. Use your own eyes. Do you see what I'm talking about? They don't need to worry about what I was before my house burned down and before I got in the race. Because. Why? Because they look around. They see what I'm running on. I'm running on making the streets safe. I'm running on actually getting the drug addicts dying on the sidewalks seven a day that are [3:01] our councilwoman and our mayor who have been in charge of that for a combined 10 years almost now. They're in charge that. I'm saying you're voting for me is a mandated change. So I don't need to convince anybody about my past. I'm living in the present and I'm speaking about what everyone sees with their own eyes. I don't need to convince any of my voters because I'm telling them exactly what we all see together. Yeah. But you need a majority of voters eventually, right? After June 2nd, you're going to have to win a majority of those [3:31] people. You know, it's about to get your brand and man, your brand is hot right now. It's probably hotter than ever right now. How do you convince those people that you say, no, I really want this job. I want to change the city. Yeah, let's rewind. Everything I've ever worked for burned in my house. Everything my parents ever worked for burned in their house. I got on this mission. It was never to run for mayor. I started this to expose the corruption and the negligence of our city leaders. And when I got to the farthest distance I could where I proved they were obstructing [4:01] justice altering after action reports after the fire and there was nothing more they could do. That's when I organically got in the race because no one else was going to run. I was never going to be the mayor but nobody was going to run against her that could beat her. I had to step into this. And again, being running for mayor is not fun. Let's be clear. I have to have 24 hours security with the amount of death threats. My kid now has to have security next to him when he goes in the ocean because psychos come to the beach. This is not [4:31] like, oh, I get to be on a new show. I'm like, oh, I'm Tom Cruise. I'm in Top Gun 3 with Miles Teller. This is not fun fighting DSA socialists in the city of L.A. So anybody that really is paying attention, politics is not fun. And now I'm deep in politics fighting a machine that is against the truth. A machine that is against stopping somebody exposing 24 plus billion dollars of cartel level money laundering. I promise you it's way more fun when I have my house [5:02] and us feeding hummingbirds and selling healing crystals. I would like that life back. But I can't get that. And I want to talk about the crystals. So you've made the case why Karen Bass should lose. What's the case why Spencer Pratt should win? There's no case. It's a fact because we need change in L.A. We can't do four more years of Karen Bass. There won't be in L.A. We lose 50,000 people last year. Over 100 businesses closed. I meet with people now that have a lot of investment in L.A. If Karen Bass were to get reelected, [5:33] they're all leaving. They're cutting their losses. L.A. will not. But what's Spencer Pratt going to do? Somebody else could do that too. Somebody else could win. I'm asking you. Right now in the polls, it's Spencer Pratt or Karen Bass. So we don't get to play imaginary savior coming in. You're either stuck with Karen Bass destroying L.A. or you have a new candidate who's saying we're stopping this direction of the city. We aren't doing this anymore. People, again, are voting for me because I'm the mandate in change. That's why they're voting for me. Not because I'm Spencer Pratt. Not because of what I did 20 years ago. [6:02] Not what I did two years ago. It's because what I'm saying right now. No more. Stop this. Governor Gavin Newsom just endorsed Karen Bass today saying, quote, [6:11] The work Karen Bass is doing in L.A. is making our entire state stronger with an 18 percent decline in homelessness while it grew nationally. Historic drops in violent crime, boosting film production in L.A. [6:21] and protecting our communities against ICE. She has my full support for reelection. Do you think that endorsement is going to help Karen Bass? [6:27] I think that endorsement, these two are co-conspirators. They're criminal partners in the negligence that led to 7,000 houses burning down. [6:35] You think Governor Gavin Newsom is a criminal? [6:37] In my opinion, it's criminal negligence when you fail your taxpayers and they burn alive because of choices you made with your state park that you're responsible for. [6:46] Same with Mayor Karen Bass. Again, it's my opinion. I believe if you let people burn alive because of your negligence, that becomes criminal negligence. [6:57] So, again, of course he's endorsing her. They're both responsible for this. And let's talk about that homeless number. [7:03] That is the most made-up number in the history of California, and he makes up a lot of numbers. [7:07] The homelessness from when it was actually started tracking with Karen Bass has actually increased. She's talking about last year, if that's a real number. [7:16] But it's increased since she got in. Not to mention, you know how they count? [7:20] They drive around one night of the year and they go, one, two, three. Maybe there's somebody in the sewer. [7:25] Oh, we can't look in that tent. It's the most, even the Rand Corporation says that number is 30% low. [7:31] And I would say the Rand Corporation number is low. And then what else was that? [7:35] Crime rates. Crime rates. Crime rates here. The L.A. Police Department crime. No, you looked at this. [7:40] I don't need to look at anything because I live in L.A. [7:42] Since crime is down, a lot of violent crimes are putting homicides. [7:45] Homicides are down across the country since COVID. That's not because of Karen Bass. That's a national trend. [7:51] But ready for this? Even from last year. But yeah, okay. Yeah. [7:53] Mayor Bass won't acknowledge that the 42,000 people, she says 42,000. I say there's 70,000 naked drug addicts shooting up, smoking fentanyl, defecating on the street, peeing on the street. These are all crimes. [8:07] You've said that you want to move the homeless to a treatment facility built on federal land. You recently said this. Have you talked to the Trump administration about this? [8:16] No, I've never talked to President Trump. [8:18] So what is the federal land? What would that be? [8:20] Because I know the federal government will want a partner to get these addicts, the treatment, and to have the money that's being laundered through the NGO stop. [8:28] And they will know that these are results where it's going to be mandatory treatment. [8:31] So, of course, the federal government will want a partner to get these 42,000 plus. [8:36] So what would that be? It'd be like a compound? [8:38] I don't like the word compound. I like campus. [8:41] Okay. [8:41] Something beautiful. I went to Washington. I met with all the people that build the prefabricated homes. [8:46] It's actually cheaper to build an entire city of prefabricated homes with treatment facilities and medical than just laundering money into buildings in L.A. [8:56] Who pays for it? Does L.A. pay for it? [8:57] I have plenty of very successful philanthropic billionaires that I've met with that would love to invest in this. [9:05] Not to mention... [9:06] Invest or donate? [9:07] It's the same thing. [9:08] It's an investment. [9:08] Not really. [9:09] Donate? Donate? You don't expect to get it back. [9:10] It's an investment in their life? [9:11] Human beings. [9:12] Okay. [9:13] You know, they're investing to save lives. [9:14] So these billionaires that you've talked to would pledge money to build this campus on federal land? [9:19] 100%. [9:19] Not to mention, you're forgetting that we've already spent $24 billion of tax money to increase homelessness. [9:25] So I could take a lot less of that to solve this crisis, this drug addiction, mental crisis. [9:31] It's not a homelessness problem. [9:33] It's a drug addiction problem. [9:34] And the way you treat drug addicts is you get them mandatory help with doctors and plans. [9:39] You don't just give them needles. [9:41] Our tax money right now, we are giving them needles at MacArthur Park. [9:45] That's not how you get somebody in a bed. [9:46] That's how you get somebody in a grave. [9:48] These people are overdosing daily, seven a day. [9:51] So my plan actually is the one with the heart and compassion. [9:55] And of course, the media is going to be there all day long to see what Spencer's doing. [9:59] I'm going to invite everybody. [10:00] Come look how incredible and beautiful this facility is. [10:03] And we'll also see if the billionaires donate that money as well. [10:06] What do you think about the police chief? [10:07] Would he stay in that job under you? [10:10] I'm going to change the entire culture of the LAPD. [10:13] So you would fire him. [10:13] He needs to go. [10:15] We'll look at every... [10:16] For sure the fire chief is gone. [10:18] The LAPD chief, probably gone. [10:19] A lot of the people below the chief, probably gone. [10:22] The culture of LAPD needs to change. [10:24] There's a thousand officers that I know of right now that shouldn't be behind desks doing paperwork. [10:28] They should be on the streets patrolling. [10:30] So we're going to allocate the resources we have to making the streets safer immediately right when I get in. [10:36] You're an outsider. [10:37] Politics is not your forte. [10:39] You're in it now. [10:40] You've got to work with the city council. [10:41] Like, let's be real here, right? [10:42] You know you have to work with the city council. [10:45] How are they going to love Spencer Pratt? [10:47] Why would they want to work with Mayor Pratt? [10:49] Yeah, again, I don't work for the city council. [10:50] I work for the constituents, the community. [10:52] But you've got to work with them. [10:53] Please. [10:53] The community leaders who I meet with, they do not have a voice with their city council member. [10:59] They don't have a voice with their mayor. [11:01] My job as mayor is to be the voice of the communities. [11:04] And if they're not listening to their constituents, not only are they not going to get reelected, [11:08] they're going to have a really hard time dealing in their community when they have the backing of the mayor and then the whole community. [11:15] But are you going to look to bulldoze or are you looking to build bridges with the city council? [11:18] Again, I'm going to listen to the communities and who put these people in office and who put me in office. [11:24] And what they want, I'm going to execute. [11:26] What do you think it should be? [11:27] You think it should be building bridges or bulldozing? [11:29] What do you think? [11:30] Again, what the communities need. [11:31] But you're talking to them. [11:32] You're out there on the campaign trail. [11:33] What are they telling you? [11:34] They're not being heard. [11:35] Okay. [11:35] So I will make sure they're heard. [11:37] And I have a feeling their message, which is they want things to feel safe and clean again. [11:42] If these city council members have a problem with that, then it's a bulldozer. [11:46] Everything, as you may or may not know in politics these days, is seen through the prism of President Donald Trump. [11:52] Do you think President Trump is a good president? [11:54] I, again, the only prism I see anything is what I live. [11:58] My town burning down is what got me in the race. [12:00] I'm in a local race. [12:01] The president has nothing to do with why my streets have naked drug addicts. [12:06] My streets don't have lights in the polls. [12:08] My streets have potholes all over. [12:11] My town burned down. [12:13] My race is a local race. [12:14] I don't care what's going on in the national politics, in other states. [12:18] I am running for a local position. [12:21] Right, but you need to have a relationship with the federal government. [12:23] You just said two minutes ago you were going to move homeless to the federal lands. [12:27] You've got to have a relationship with the federal government. [12:29] So what is your take on President Trump? [12:30] You're going to host the Olympics in two years. [12:32] You're going to be the mayor of that city, maybe. [12:34] What's your relationship going to be like with President Trump? [12:36] I'm going to have a relationship with two presidents, and they're going to be the same. [12:39] I'm going to work with the president the same way I'm going to work with the city council members [12:42] or my state reps or the lieutenant governor or the new governor. [12:45] I'm going to work with whoever I need to work with to execute the best for Angelenos, period. [12:51] Do you want his endorsement? [12:52] I don't need anyone's endorsement but mothers. [12:54] That's who's getting me elected. [12:55] People keep forgetting it's Democratic moms that do not feel safe that are putting me in office in five days. [13:02] Can you explain to me something? [13:03] Because you're not afraid of anything. [13:05] You're not afraid of giving your opinion on anything, but you won't give me an opinion on President Trump. [13:09] And I get it that his endorsement, his blessing may not be good for you. [13:13] It likely isn't good for you in L.A. [13:14] But if you're fearless, what do you think of President Trump? [13:18] You're Republican, right? [13:19] Again, this right here where you're doing is... [13:22] I'm just asking. [13:23] I'm telling you. [13:23] This conversation is what's destroyed local elections. [13:27] People don't care in L.A. [13:29] They want to feel safe. [13:30] They don't want to step in human poop. [13:32] I don't need to have personal opinions about anybody that doesn't affect them stepping in human poop. [13:38] It's not being scared. [13:39] I'm just not falling in for this tribal politics back and forth. [13:43] It's local election. [13:44] I'm not running for president. [13:46] So it doesn't matter, my opinion, on any president's. [13:49] Okay. [13:50] You've been sort of very upfront about your past and reality TV. [13:54] You've always put it all out there. [13:55] There was an article that I read, and I think you wrote about this, too, about how you blew through $10 million earlier in your life. [14:01] And you said it's really easy to spend millions of dollars if you're not careful, if you're not thinking it's easy to make millions of dollars. [14:08] The money was just coming so fast, so easy. [14:10] My ego led me to believe that. [14:12] You ended up spending $30,000 on shopping sprees, $4,000 on bottles of wine, $15,000 a night on bodyguards, and a crystal collection worth a million bucks. [14:22] Probably way more than a million. [14:24] It went up in value. [14:24] More than a million. [14:25] Oh, yeah. [14:25] And you blew through it. [14:27] You ended up living at your parents' house, right, rent-free, a place they had. [14:31] You had to move. [14:32] Yeah. [14:32] What did you learn from that? [14:34] Well, first off, I was, what, 23 years old. [14:36] I'm now 42. [14:37] What did Mayor Bass learn for blowing through $400 million of our tax money last year with Inside Safe to allegedly house 1,400 people? [14:47] So if we're going to talk about spending habits, mine were from 20 years ago. [14:50] Hers were last year. [14:51] But I want to ask you about that. [14:52] I mean, what did you learn from losing all that money? [14:54] It was my money. [14:54] I would never lose taxpayers' money. [14:54] No, no, no, but what did you learn from it, though? [14:58] Again, I was 23. [14:59] Yeah. [15:00] You didn't learn anything from losing $10 million? [15:02] And I didn't lose it. [15:03] Oh, you spent it. [15:04] It was a big difference. [15:05] No, I get it. [15:06] I get it. [15:06] But did you, did you, that experience, like, did it, I don't know, did it open your eyes to anything? [15:10] Did you, I mean, I just, sometimes experiences like that you would learn. [15:13] I just want to know, like, if you learned from setbacks. [15:15] It wasn't a setback. [15:17] It wasn't. [15:18] No. [15:18] So losing your money and having to live in a place your parents had. [15:21] Again, let's be clear. [15:22] Every single year since then, I've made nearly a million dollars in reality. [15:27] I was never, you know, any stories about, oh, oh, he was bankrupt. [15:31] I sold that story to InTouch. [15:32] People forget everything in Hollywood. [15:34] Explain this. [15:36] Everything about me was a paid story, cover story. [15:39] It's manipulation. [15:40] It's entertainment. [15:41] So why should people believe you now? [15:43] Oh, my God. [15:43] If back then you were selling stories. [15:44] I'm just, I'm just asking you. [15:45] I mean. [15:45] They don't need to believe me. [15:46] Like I said, let's rewind. [15:47] I am the look around candidate. [15:49] Everything I'm saying, they live. [15:51] That's why I'm surging. [15:52] No matter what anybody tries to argue, I am the one saying no more of this. [15:56] It's not what I spent my money on when I was 23 that I worked for by myself that I got. [16:01] Not taxpayer money. [16:03] We're living in reality right now. [16:05] And I'm the only one that's a candidate in reality. [16:08] So, again, these people have spent billions of our money. [16:13] What do they have to say for it? [16:14] I would love to watch you ask Mayor Bass, Mayor Bass, you wasted $400 million. [16:19] What do you have to say? [16:20] I will hope you do that this year. [16:21] I've asked you a lot of questions. [16:22] Don't worry about that. [16:22] I haven't seen that question. [16:23] I have. [16:25] I watch all our clips. [16:26] You've never asked that. [16:27] Talk to me about crystals. [16:28] What is the deal with crystals? [16:29] Do you believe they have powers? [16:30] I know nothing about crystals. [16:32] So tell me about it. [16:32] Do you believe the ocean has powers? [16:34] Do you believe waterfalls have powers? [16:36] Do you believe hummingbirds have power? [16:37] I believe anything God put on this earth has energy. [16:40] And I respect the earth and the powers of God. [16:43] And so that's, I don't worship crystals. [16:46] I think they're beautiful. [16:46] The ones I collected all went up in value before Mayor Bass let them burn to the ground. [16:51] They were investments. [16:52] It was a museum-grade collection. [16:54] When I went to heaven, they would be in a museum. [16:56] The Pratt family collection at the Natural History Museum. [17:00] Because of what you've collected. [17:01] These were specimens. [17:02] These are not, with respect to the farmer's market, these are not, you know, what you're [17:07] getting when you get your avocados. [17:09] These are, you know. [17:10] Yeah. [17:10] How would you describe? [17:11] Do you think they have special powers? [17:13] Or do you just think they're nice to look at? [17:14] They're good to collect? [17:15] Like, how do you explain them? [17:16] Okay. [17:16] This watch right here has quartz in it. [17:18] Right. [17:19] And it has energy. [17:20] Power. [17:20] It's moving. [17:20] Power. [17:21] That's as much energy as I know. [17:23] I'm not. [17:23] Okay. [17:23] God didn't tell me the details. [17:25] But I think stones and the earth grounding as much energy as taking off your shoes and [17:31] going and hugging a tree. [17:33] Yeah. [17:33] Which I think has power. [17:35] You know being a mayor is a full-time job. [17:36] You're a family man with children. [17:38] A lot of your life in reality TV, as you mentioned, was you and your wife. [17:42] I think it was branded Spidey at one point. [17:44] You guys were very, very big. [17:46] You guys have always been sort of together. [17:47] Is she into you running this race? [17:50] Is she somebody who likes politics? [17:52] Some people have said she's not out there as much on the trail. [17:55] Is that like a safety thing? [17:56] How would you explain that? [17:57] Yeah. [17:57] My wife is very in with her faith. [17:59] So if it's God's plan, I'm going to be the mayor. [18:02] It's God's plan. [18:02] And she supports that as a miracle. [18:05] If it's not, she supports that. [18:06] She stands behind me. [18:08] But she... [18:08] Does she like the whole campaigning thing? [18:10] Does she want to get out there? [18:11] Is she kind of what's her take on it? [18:13] She's a mom. [18:14] She's focusing on making sure our kids are safe and, you know, fed and go to school. [18:18] She understands why you want to run? [18:19] She's behind you on that one? [18:20] Yeah, her life burned down as well. [18:22] Yeah. [18:22] I want to give you some scenarios since you may be the mayor of Los Angeles. [18:25] If there's another wildfire, what's the first thing you're going to do? [18:28] Well, first off, there's going to be another wildfire before I'm even the mayor. [18:32] So people need to get ready now because another town is going to burn down, [18:36] whether it's Brentwood, whether it's the Hollywood Hills, whether it's Bel Air. [18:40] A fire is coming because Gavin Newsom and Mayor Bass allow the dead brush, [18:46] the dead fuels surrounding these houses that have been there for 50 years. [18:51] There's actually 45 less firefighters since my house burned down on January 7th. [18:55] The list you can go on the government side of every single thing the firefighters ask for, [19:01] all denied, denied, denied, denied. [19:02] 84% of what the fire department is responding to right now is vagrant drug addict fires, [19:08] whether it's under the freeway or the dead brush next to somebody's building. [19:12] So 100% before I'm mayor, there's a big fire coming. [19:16] So as mayor, I will make sure that we clear the dead brush, which is a major thing. [19:23] I will also work with L.A. County to do a better mutual aid program to add another Chinook [19:27] so we can have potentially 3,500 gallons of water versus 250 gallons in our current Firehawks. [19:34] And I'll make sure we build more dip sites that are, God willing, every mile from houses. [19:39] This is a $20 million idea that protects $265 billion in real estate. [19:46] I believe, again, private money and even insurance companies will help support this idea [19:52] because insurance companies are having a real big problem [19:55] and people are having a real big problem insuring their nice houses. [19:59] So with more dip sites and these helicopters, we're going to be in a lot better place. [20:03] I will also make sure that we don't leave smoldering hillsides for a week into a wind event [20:08] and fly to Africa. [20:09] And when my fire chief calls me, because I obviously won't be in Africa, [20:14] I'll take the call and I won't go get drinks and we'll actually get fixed wing air support. [20:18] If you're home, I'm not sure where you're going to live if you get elected [20:20] and you're with your family and a big earthquake hits, who's your first call? [20:28] Probably my deputy mayor of public safety, who will hopefully be Chief Bobby Garcia, [20:34] who I've been talking to, who's the chief of the U.S. Forest Service, [20:37] who I want to bring in to be the one who's responsible. [20:40] For real public safety, whether it's a fire or earthquake. [20:43] Because right now, if there's a big earthquake, [20:45] we don't even have a helicopter that can remove more than 12 people from a collapsed freeway. [20:51] We need one of these Chinooks that I've been talking to with Wayne Colson, who owns them. [20:55] We need one of these that can remove 40 people away from a freeway that goes in. [21:00] We won't even be able to get anything to certain places. [21:03] So these are things that, again, when I'm mayor, we're going to, it's not going to be overnight. [21:07] We need to be preparing for the next 10 years of a black swan event, [21:11] whether it's a terrorist attack that could be coming for the Olympics. [21:14] We need to have these plans for a mass casualty event that is not being trained up right now. [21:20] There's no mutual aid between the Sheriff's Department, U.S. Forest Service, [21:24] Homeland Security, Federal Agent. [21:26] This is not happening. [21:27] We need to be having major drills to prepare for one of these black swan events. [21:31] If there's a voter out there, this will be a last question, if there's a voter out there who's like, [21:34] can I really vote for Spencer Pratt, what would you tell them? [21:38] Again, they've lived under not voting for Spencer Pratt. [21:43] They have lived under the experience of the people in power's experience. [21:48] So I just tell them, we're going to stop this. [21:52] It's that simple. [21:52] We're done with these experienced politicians and living under what that means. [21:59] So I don't have a big pitch because I'm doing it as an Angeleno who's had enough. [22:05] All right. [22:05] Spencer Pratt, thank you for your time. [22:06] I appreciate it. [22:07] Appreciate it. [22:07] Yeah. [22:07] We thank you for watching. [22:09] And remember, stay updated on breaking news and top stories on the NBC News app [22:14] or watch live on our YouTube channel. [22:16] Thank you.