Episode summary
In this episode of the All In Podcast, host Jason Calacanis interviews Spencer Pratt, the reality TV personality now running for mayor of Los Angeles. The interview comes days after Pratt's widely praised debate performance against incumbent Mayor Karen Bass and fellow challenger Councilwoman Nithya Raman. Pratt, whose Pacific Palisades home burned down in the January 2025 fires along with his parents' house, has transformed personal tragedy into a populist political campaign centered on accountability, corruption, and basic governance. He reveals explosive allegations including that LADWP CEO Janice Quiñones drained two fire reservoirs before the known dry season, that Mayor Bass never called for fixed-wing air support during the fire because she was in Africa while her deputy mayor was on house arrest, and that LAFD whistleblowers told him firefighters were ordered to abandon a smoldering fire on January 1st that later became the Palisades inferno. Pratt accuses the city's NGO network of systematically stealing taxpayer money, claiming the $100 million FireAid concert resulted in almost no direct aid to victims. He details his enforcement-first strategy to clear encampments, restore public safety, audit every city department and NGO, and rebuild LA as "the number one city in the world." Pratt describes assembling a team of billionaires, CEOs, and specialists willing to work for minimal pay, including Peter Chernin advising on Hollywood revitalization and an anonymous billionaire pledging $500 million to make LA fun again. The conversation covers his plans for transportation, housing, small business deregulation, fire prevention using private pool water, and his belief that enforcing existing laws will solve 90% of LA's problems. Pratt positions himself as a non-politician fighting evil, citing Cincinnatus as his model, and warns that if Bass or Raman win, the city is finished.