Katie Porter is a “master manipulator” who embodies everything wrong with politics today, according to her husband of 10 years.
Matthew Hoffman, 50, told The Post the hotheaded liberal contender for California governor is a bad choice to run the deep blue state.
Referring to video clips that exposed Porter’s volatile temper and hostile treatment of staffers and journalists, he said, “It’s about time” they came out.
“The amount of staff she goes through. The horrible things that she says [about others] … those aren’t fabrications,” he warned The Post outside his home in Portland, Oregon.
Hoffman, who divorced Porter in 2013, said people are starting to see who his ex really is, and it’s people like her who make it “hard to like politics” in recent times.
Porter’s campaign to replace term-limited Gavin Newsom has been hobbled by an on-air clash with CBS journalist Julie Watts. The former US representative accused the reporter of being “unnecessarily argumentative” when asked about what she’d do to win over Donald Trump supporters.
Hoffman said it was the most “softball question,” and all she had to say was how the message should be to build bridges and for everyone to work together.
Another video emerged showing Porter yelling at a female staffer to “get out of my f—ing shot” during a July 2021 Zoom call.
Hoffman — who shares three children with his ex-wife, from whom he had a bitter split — acknowledged that Porter chafes many in political circles, including Democratic Party bigwigs Nancy Pelosi and Adam Schiff.
“She can’t even get along with Nancy Pelosi,” Hoffman observed.
He also said it was preposterous for Porter to claim her California Senate primary loss to Schiff last March was because he wanted to “rig” the election.
Porter suffered a crushing defeat, finishing a distant third behind Schiff and Republican Steve Garvey.
“The system’s not rigged, Katie,” warned Hoffman, saying it was all a matter of politics as usual.
However, he was also quick to add that his ex-wife is by no means dumb and is “a master manipulator.”
After the incident, Porter said, she regretted her comment calling the election rigged.
Hoffman pointed out that leadership is all about finding consensus, but said Porter’s personality means she isn’t the type to listen to differing ideas and find an acceptable political middle ground.
“Katie and her ex-husband divorced more than a decade ago and have a positive and productive relationship as they continue to co-parent their three children,” said Porter’s campaign spokesperson Peter Opitz.
Addressing their relationship, Hoffman described their divorce as “awful.”
Porter was the one to file for divorce, followed by an emergency protective order and then a restraining order against Hoffman. Police also arrested Hoffman after a fight in which he broke a light switch in their home.
Hoffman responded with a request for a restraining order of his own, claiming Porter would “routinely” call him a “f—ing idiot” and “f—ing incompetent” and shattered a glass coffee pot on their kitchen counter in March 2012 when she felt their house wasn’t clean enough.
“She would not let me have a cell phone because she said, ‘You’re too f—ing dumb to operate it,’” Hoffman said of his hotheaded ex in the documents.
Hoffman also claimed in divorce papers that in 2006, Porter exploded over the way he was making mashed potatoes, snapping, “Can’t you read the f—ing instructions!” before raising a “ceramic bowl of steaming hot potatoes and dumped it on my head, burning my scalp,” according to Hoffman’s account in court papers.
In her first congressional run in 2018, Porter cast herself as a “victim of domestic violence” and frequently highlighted her role as a single mom.
“I’m the most boring person in America. I’m a mom of three kids, I protected my family, I ended a marriage that was troubled,” Porter said.
Katie “loves to bang the drum” of her being a single mom, Hoffman countered.
The couple eventually settled their divorce. Neither was ever charged with any wrongdoing by police and co-parenting arrangements were eventually settled.
Hoffman left California to become a compliance specialist with the Oregon Employment Department.
Their three children — two sons and a daughter, the youngest — live with their mom.
Hoffman said he loves his kids and wants to be there for them as much as possible. While sees them on FaceTime frequently, he would love to spend more time with them in person, although it’s hard with them being in Southern California.
He said he doesn’t speak to Porter often and tries to avoid her, but when she does call, it’s usually because she “wants something,” usually related to parenting.
Hoffman, originally from Oregon, said he’s moved on with his life and found someone new, but he still lives in the shadow of his painful divorce.
Porter has been running her platform saying she offers the state “a little bit of hope and a whole lot of grit,” ahead of the primary in June 2026.
