Nithya Raman offers bizarre excuse for bailing on TV interviews days before blockbuster election

Nypost · May 28, 2026 · 420 words · By Benjamin Brown

Candidate Reliability Election Polling and Momentum

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What to know about Candidate Reliability

Nithya Raman offers bizarre excuse for bailing on TV interviews days before blockbuster election See more of our coverage in your search results.

Claims checked 9

Techniques found 2

Topics 2

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center86%

Right14%

7 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Nithya Raman offers bizarre excuse for bailing on TV interviews days before blockbuster election See more of our coverage in your search results.

Why it matters

Add The New York Post on GoogleLess than a week before Election Day, Los Angeles mayoral candidate Nithya Raman canceled her interview with a local TV station at the eleventh hour, citing a “tongue injury.” The Democratic socialist was slated to appear on…

Common ground

“Tonight, candidate for mayor City Councilmember Nithya Raman was scheduled to appear with us here in studio, however, her team canceled late this afternoon citing a tongue injury,” KTLA anchor Micah Ohlman said during the broadcast.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language, Name Calling / Labeling: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Follow-up questions

What new context would change how readers understand this Candidate Reliability story?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that Bass, Raman, and reality TV star Spencer Pratt are looking to separate themselves from the pack?
How does this story connect Candidate Reliability with Election Polling and Momentum over the next few days?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://nypost.com/2026/05/28/us-news/nithya-raman-offers-bizarre-excuse-for-bai…

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 2 propaganda techniques in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning

Loaded Language 90% confidence

Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.

Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

warning

Name Calling / Labeling 80% confidence

Attaching a negative label to a person or group to reject them without evidence.

Why it matters: Recognizing name calling / labeling helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 9 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 5

verified Verified By Reference 2

info Single Source 2

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Claim 1: “Bass, Raman, and reality TV star Spencer Pratt are looking to separate themselves from the pack.”

CORROBORATED

Wikipedia and cross-references from Nypost confirm that Karen Bass (incumbent), Nithya Raman (City Councilmember), and Spencer Pratt (reality TV star) were all candidates in the 2026 Los Angeles mayoral election.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Spencer William Pratt (born August 14, 1983) is an American reality television personality. In 2007, he began dating Heidi Montag, a primary cast member of the reality television series The Hills and …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spencer_Pratt

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Nithya V. Raman (born July 28, 1981) is an Indian-born American urban planner, activist, and politician serving as the Los Angeles city councilmember for the 4th district since 2020. Raman, a member o…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nithya_Raman

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2026 Los Angeles mayoral election will be held on November 3, 2026 to elect the mayor of Los Angeles, California. A nonpartisan top-two primary was held on June 2, 2026. Incumbent mayor Karen Bass…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Los_Angeles_mayoral_elect…

+ 2 more evidence sources

verified

Claim 2: “With the June 2 primary just days away, Bass, Raman, and reality TV star Spencer Pratt are looking to separate themselves from the pack.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia explicitly states that a nonpartisan top-two primary for the 2026 Los Angeles mayoral election was held on June 2, 2026. This is also corroborated by multiple cross-references.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Los Angeles, also known as L.A., is the most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Southern California. With an estimated 3.87 million re…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Angeles

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — On June 6, 2025, protests began in Los Angeles after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents raided locations in the region to arrest individuals allegedly involved in illegal immigration to …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_2025_Los_Angeles_protests…

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+ 5 more evidence sources

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Claim 3: “Los Angeles mayoral candidate Nithya Raman canceled her interview with a local TV station at the eleventh hour, citing a “tongue injury.””

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results from May 28, 2026, explicitly state that Nithya Raman canceled a local TV interview at the eleventh hour citing a 'tongue injury'.

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+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 4: “Pratt continues hammer Bass over her handling of the Palisades Fire”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results from May 2026 explicitly state that Spencer Pratt used the 'Sandy Fire' (Palisades Fire area) to criticize Mayor Karen Bass's handling of the situation.

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web search NEUTRAL — 2 days ago ... Pratt, a reality television personality, was not able to pull off his latest venture — an improbable bid to become mayor of Los Angeles.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/the-rise-and-fall-of-t…

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web search NEUTRAL — May 19, 2026 ... Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt used the Sandy Fire to criticize Mayor Karen Bass weeks before the election.
https://www.newsweek.com/spencer-pratt-uses-sandy-fire-to-do…

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web search NEUTRAL — May 9, 2026 ... She has made mistakes and admitted them, but she is not the one to blame to things that were already happening. She has fired all the people ...
https://www.facebook.com/groups/hearinla/posts/1508024614442…

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Claim 5: “Bass is currently favored at 26%, with the DSA-linked candidate picking up 25% of the vote and Pratt not far behind at 22%, according to a new UC Berkeley-Los Angeles Times poll released Thursday.”

CORROBORATED

A web search result from the LA Times dated May 28, 2026, confirms a poll showing Bass leading Raman by one percentage point, with Pratt close behind, matching the specific percentages (26%, 25%, 22%) mentioned in the claim.

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web search NEUTRAL — May 28, 2026 · Mayor Karen Bass leads Councilmember Nithya Raman by one percentage point, with Spencer Pratt close behind.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-05-28/poll-sho…

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web search NEUTRAL — 2 days ago · CBS News projects that incumbent Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass will face off against Nithya Raman in November's runoff election.
https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/los-angeles-mayor-el…

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web search NEUTRAL — 3 days ago · Patti Buday Prior to 2012, California had a closed primary where registered voters of the two major parties separately chose their own ...
https://www.facebook.com/townhallcom/posts/nithya-raman-just…

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Claim 6: “Raman has attacked the incumbent candidate on her “Inside Safe” homelessness program”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence confirms Nithya Raman is a candidate and politician, but does not contain any specific mentions of her attacking the 'Inside Safe' program.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Nithya V. Raman (born July 28, 1981) [1] is an American urban planner, activist, and politician serving as the Los Angeles city councilmember for the 4th district since 2020.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nithya_Raman

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web search NEUTRAL — 5M Followers, 306 Following, 737 Posts - Nithya Menen (@nithyamenen) on Instagram: "Actor Bangalore @keyuriproductions"
https://www.instagram.com/nithyamenen/

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web search NEUTRAL — N.S. Nithya, [1][2] known professionally as Nithya Menen, [3] is an Indian actress and singer who works predominantly in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films. She has also acted in a few Kannada films.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nithya_Menen

verified

Claim 7: “Ohlman said the station has also extended a number of invitations to Mayor Karen Bass to join the show, but they have “all been denied.””

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

While the evidence confirms Karen Bass is the Mayor and has a Wikipedia page mentioning KTLA, there is no specific evidence in the provided results confirming that KTLA extended multiple invitations that were all denied.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Karen Ruth Bass (; born October 3, 1953) is an American politician who has served as the 43rd mayor of Los Angeles since 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, Bass previously served in the U.S. Hous…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Bass

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Mayor of Los Angeles is the head of the executive branch of the government of Los Angeles and the chief executive of Los Angeles. The office is officially nonpartisan, a change made in the 1909 ch…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_of_Los_Angeles

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 8: “The Democratic socialist was slated to appear on KTLA on Wednesday, but according to the station her team backed out late in the afternoon claiming she bit her tongue.”

CORROBORATED

The web search results confirm the candidate canceled a TV interview shortly before Election Day due to a tongue injury, which aligns with the specific details of the KTLA appearance and the 'bit her tongue' excuse.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — May 28, 2026 ... Less than a week before Election Day, Los Angeles mayoral candidate Nithya Raman canceled her interview with a local TV station at the ...
https://nypost.com/2026/05/28/us-news/nithya-raman-offers-bi…

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web search NEUTRAL — May 27, 2026 ... Fake homeless encampment set up outside LA City Councilwoman and mayoral candidate Nithya Raman's home. This is happening all over the city and ...
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DY3p3T3h_FR/

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web search NEUTRAL — Less than a week before Election Day, Los Angeles mayoral candidate Nithya Raman canceled her interview with a local TV station at the eleventh hour, citing ...
https://www.aol.com/articles/nithya-raman-offers-bizarre-exc…

info

Claim 9: “The poll signals a major momentum shift for both Raman and Pratt, who each jumped eight percentage points since March, while Bass remained relatively flat.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence mentions the candidates' positions and the runoff, but does not explicitly detail the specific 'eight percentage point' jump since March for Raman and Pratt.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — 2 days ago · This is how the elections in California are stolen by "ballot harvesting and dirty voter rolls that include dead people, illegal immigrants and ...
https://www.facebook.com/cnn/posts/city-councilwoman-nithya-…

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web search NEUTRAL — 2 days ago · Please give me one qualification Pratt has to be any elected official?|Say it with me, Mayor Raman. Mayor Raman. She will absolutely be the ...
https://www.facebook.com/WGNTV/posts/city-councilmember-nith…

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web search NEUTRAL — 2 days ago · Incumbent Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass will face City Councilmember Nithya Raman, according to the Associated Press' projections.
https://www.facebook.com/livenowfox/posts/incumbent-los-ange…

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.