Nicole Russell's Field Guide to Republican Candidates Who Are Definitely Not Republicans
USA TODAY Opinion Page: Where AI-Generated Barbecue Dads Count as Political Analysis
Nicole Russell wants you to know that Spencer Pratt is not really a politician. He is just a frustrated American who watched his city decline, and now he wants to fix it (Russell, 2026). If that story sounds familiar, it should. We already tried electing a reality television star who promised to fight for the forgotten man, and he spent four years trying to overturn an election he lost. The world does not need a sequel, especially one that uses artificial intelligence to generate its campaign ads because the candidate cannot generate ideas on his own.
Russell is right about one thing. Pratt is tapping into real anger. Los Angeles has a homelessness crisis, rents are obscene, and the Pacific Palisades fire destroyed thousands of homes while the city looked unprepared. Anger is justified. But anger is not a platform, and Pratt is not offering solutions. He is offering slogans, superhero memes, and the backing of billionaires who would like the city to be a little friendlier to their portfolios.
Let Us Check the Receipts on Those Poll Numbers
Russell points to an Emerson College poll showing Pratt at 22% support, a 12-point jump since March (Russell, 2026). That part checks out. According to the Los Angeles Times, the poll of 350 likely voters put Bass at 30%, Pratt at 22%, and Nithya Raman at 20% (Goldberg, 2026). But context matters. The margin of error was 5%, meaning Pratt and Raman were statistically tied for second place. When pollsters asked undecided voters which way they leaned, Raman actually moved slightly ahead of Pratt (Goldberg, 2026). So Pratt is not surging past the field. He is bouncing around in a three-way race where half the electorate finally made up its minds.
Russell also notes that Pratt is the only Republican in the nonpartisan race. The Emerson poll found that over 61% of Republicans back Pratt, and he pulls nearly half of independents (Goldberg, 2026). In other words, his base is exactly what he claims to reject: partisan Republicans and the anti-Bass crowd. You cannot take Republican donor money, Republican voter support, and Donald Trump’s endorsement, then insist you are not running a Republican campaign. That is not independence. That is branding.
Artificial Intelligence for an Artificial Candidate
Russell describes Pratt’s AI-generated ads as clever satire. She quotes an ad where barbecue dads repeat “I’m not MAGA or anything” while complaining about needles on playgrounds and downtown decay (Russell, 2026). Whether that exact script is real or fan-made content that Pratt reposted is almost beside the point. The New York Times noted that Pratt’s campaign has gained attention specifically for its embrace of AI-generated social media videos, some of which his team calls fan-made (Sorkin et al., 2026). The effect is the same. His message is being manufactured by algorithms because his own record is too thin to stand on its own.
If Pratt’s biggest selling point is that he is not a politician, his second biggest selling point appears to be that he is not MAGA. But his own endorser disagrees. In a Deadline interview, Donald Trump called Pratt a “big MAGA person” (Patten, 2026). When the man who coined the term stamps it on your forehead, you do not get to wash it off with an AI-generated car commercial.
Jesus Christ, Superstar, and Also Obama
In a May 21 interview with CNN, Pratt said his political role model is Jesus Christ, whom he called a politician because “he had to go in and speak” (”MAGA Star Candidate Reveals Surprising Political Role Model,” 2026). When asked if he admired any modern politicians, Pratt said no. He explained, “No, I’m not a politician. I don’t want to be a politician. I want to be a fighter for the people” (”MAGA Star Candidate Reveals Surprising Political Role Model,” 2026). He also claimed he is “most similar to Obama.”
Let us unpack that. Pratt wants to be a fighter for the people, but his role model is a first-century religious leader, and his policy twin is a former Democratic president he probably voted against. Meanwhile, he became a Republican because law enforcement told him to get a concealed carry permit after he received death threats during his MTV years, and only Republicans would help him (”MAGA Star Candidate Reveals Surprising Political Role Model,” 2026). That is not a political philosophy. That is a celebrity memoir.
Follow the Billionaire Money
Russell mentions that Pratt has attracted Hollywood heavyweights like Lucian Grainge, Dan Loeb, Haim Saban, and the Winklevoss twins (Russell, 2026). The New York Times confirmed the list and added several more, including Bobby Kotick, Sean Rad, and Jeanie Buss (Sorkin et al., 2026). These are not small donors dropping twenty bucks because they like Pratt’s energy. They are billionaires and corporate CEOs.
According to the same Times report, Pratt’s message of “reducing bureaucracy and making the city friendlier to companies” is what drew them in (Sorkin et al., 2026). So the frustrated suburban dad in Pratt’s AI ad might think he is voting for cleaner parks, but the people paying for the ads want deregulation and lower taxes. That is how populism works in America. The donors write the checks, and the voters get the memes.
If It Walks Like a MAGA and Talks Like a MAGA
Russell insists Pratt is not running on ideology, just frustration. But frustration without ideology still has consequences. Pratt wants LAPD officers stationed in front of every school (”MAGA Star Candidate Reveals Surprising Political Role Model,” 2026). He wants concealed carry permits for celebrities who feel threatened. He has Trump’s endorsement and Republican voter registration. He is a Republican candidate funded by Republican donors in a nonpartisan race that he is trying to make partisan.
The fact that Pratt has to keep saying “I’m not MAGA” is telling. When Bass responded to Trump’s endorsement, she told Deadline that Los Angeles does not want a MAGA mayor (Patten, 2026). Russell frames this as Bass calling Pratt a MAGA mayor, but the truth is simpler. Trump called Pratt MAGA. Pratt’s voters are Republicans. His donors want business-friendly deregulation. If that is not MAGA, it is at least MAGA-adjacent, and Los Angeles deserves better than a candidate whose main pitch is that he is technically not the worst thing he looks like.
LA’s problems are fixable, but they require boring things. It needs zoning reform, infrastructure investment, and mental health services. It needs permitting reform that actually helps working people build housing, not just helps billionaires build studios faster. Pratt is not offering any of that. He is offering vibes, guns, and AI videos. The city is frustrated, but frustration is not a credential. If Los Angeles wanted another reality star in charge, it would just hand the remote to the producers who already run everything.
If you want to see a columnist from Texas explain why a Trump-endorsed, billionaire-funded Republican reality star is actually an everyman outsider, you can read the original magic show here: https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2026/05/24/spencer-pratt-la-mayor-party-voter-concerns/90195170007/
Works Cited
Goldberg, N. (2026, May 13). Karen Bass, Xavier Becerra top new poll for L.A. mayor, California governor. *Los Angeles Times*. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-05-13/bass-holds-lead-in-new-la-mayoral-poll-with-pratt-raman-neck-neck-for-runoff-position
MAGA star candidate reveals surprising political role model. (2026, May 21). *The Daily Beast*. https://www.thedailybeast.com/maga-star-candidate-spencer-pratt-reveals-surprising-political-role-model-jesus-christ/
Patten, D. (2026, May 21). Battle for L.A.: Incumbent Karen Bass on Trump backing Pratt for mayor, LAPD control, ParaBros deal & protecting Hollywood jobs for Angelenos. *Deadline*. https://deadline.com/2026/05/karen-bass-interview-spencer-pratt-trump-1236917033/
Russell, N. (2026, May 24). Spencer Pratt isn’t running on MAGA. He’s running on frustration. *USA Today*. https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2026/05/24/spencer-pratt-la-mayor-party-voter-concerns/90195170007/
Sorkin, A. R., Warner, B., Kessler, S., de la Merced, M. J., Gallogly, N., & O’Keefe, B. (2026, May 14). Dan Loeb, Bobby Kotick and other business leaders backing Spencer Pratt. *The New York Times*. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/14/business/dealbook/spencer-pratt-ceo-support.html