Los Angeles mayoral candidate Nithya Raman spoke out Thursday, two days after a social media video featuring her and a content creator appeared to call Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Police Chief Jim McDonnell “fascist liars.”
The video was posted to Raman’s social media account earlier this week and later deleted.
The controversial video, which Raman filmed with progressive digital content creator Ed Choi, featured images of Bass and McDonnell alongside the tagline, “Only you can stop fascist liars.”
Although Raman’s campaign has been running an active social media operation through progressive media firm Fight Agency — the same company that worked on Zohran Mamdani’s New York City mayoral campaign — Raman defended herself Thursday as she explained the video to NBC Los Angeles.
“It was edited to seem like I was answering questions about Mayor Bass or Chief McDonnell, but I was actually talking about ICE on our streets,” Raman said.
When NBCLA’s Conan Nolan pressed her, Raman said she was “absolutely not” calling the mayor and police chief fascists. She said her team took the video down “immediately” after seeing the edited version.
Bass told NBCLA on Wednesday that she was baffled by the comparison to fascist leaders such as Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.
“There is no aspect of fascism on display in this city,” Bass said. “I don’t know how I could ever be characterized as a fascist. That just demonstrates her complete misunderstanding of what fascism is, nor would the police chief be characterized that way.”
McDonnell also reacted to the video Wednesday, telling NBCLA he was disappointed by it, given that dozens of his officers were injured during unrest following anti-ICE protests in the summer of 2025.
“ATVs were driven at them, vehicles were burned right in front of them,” McDonnell said. “For someone to come back over a year later and criticize something that was a heroic effort, it’s disappointing.”
While Raman claimed the video was edited to make it sound as though she was calling Bass and McDonnell fascists, she also said in the video that she would remove McDonnell as police chief if elected mayor, citing his handling of the 2025 anti-ICE protests.
“I don’t believe that Chief McDonnell has met this moment, and I will make sure that we are appointing a police chief who can really respond to the needs that immigrant Angelenos have and that every resident of Los Angeles has,” Raman said in the now-deleted video.
Raman’s campaign said her desire to replace McDonnell should not come as a surprise because she has been transparent about her disagreements with the chief. However, the campaign said there is no timeline for removing him if Raman is elected mayor.
Raman voted in favor of McDonnell’s appointment as LAPD chief in November 2024. The City Council ultimately confirmed him in an 11-2 vote.
NBC Los Angeles reached out to Choi but did not receive a response.
Raman’s remarks also drew criticism from the Los Angeles Police Protective League, the union representing rank-and-file LAPD officers, and Bass’ reelection campaign.
“There is a reason the chief and the mayor have security details. It’s because they are under constant threat,” the police union said in a statement. “Unfortunately, Ms. Raman has now amplified those threats and further endangered our members who serve on those details. It also underscores why she has no business leading Los Angeles.”