The Aporia · Nithya Raman’s LA mayor bid in ‘disarray’ as staffer’s ‘racist’ video emerges

Nithya Raman’s LA mayor bid in ‘disarray’ as staffer’s ‘racist’ video emerges

Read the original at New York Post ↗

Cite

APA MLA Chicago

Peña, M. (2026, November 2). Nithya Raman’s LA mayor bid in ‘disarray’ as staffer’s ‘racist’ video emerges. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/11/02/us-news/nithya-ramans-campaign-fires-staffer-over-michigan-black-vote-comments/

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

Quick Summary

LA mayoral candidate Nithya Raman dismissed a part-time staffer named Eric Cheng after he posted a video on social media making racially insensitive comments about a political figure in Michigan. The video went viral when Mike Trujillo, who supports incumbent Mayor Karen Bass, shared it and criticized Raman’s campaign for its handling of the situation. Raman’s team condemned Cheng’s statements as "reprehensible" and apologized, but the incident has raised questions about racial insensitivity within her campaign.

Written by AI on 2026-11-02, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

As of November 2, 2026, LA mayoral candidate Nithya Raman dismissed her part-time staffer Eric Cheng after he posted a video on his personal social media account making racially insensitive comments about former Michigan Senate candidate Haley Stevens. Cheng stated that Stevens had “tried to brainwash a lot of the black vote,” which Raman’s campaign immediately condemned as "reprehensible" and not reflective of their stance. The controversy was amplified when Mike Trujillo, a political consultant supporting incumbent Mayor Karen Bass, shared the video online. This incident has caused significant disruption in Raman's mayoral bid.

Written for “Nithya Raman's Mayor Bid Troubled” on 2026-11-03, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Why this leaning score

The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.25, but 1 quote(s) could not be found in the article and the other 1 are attributed speech rather than the article's own narration, so the score is not published.

Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.

Leaning score withheld for article 123649: no verified evidence · logged 2026-11-02

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 14% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.

I Interviewed Haley Stevens at 11 PM on Her Fiancé’s Couch. Here’s Why She Broke with Abdul El-Sayed. Different event

The Free Press

Hedges 1 of 4 claims Outlet record 96/100

“The articles describe different events: one about a LA mayoral candidate's staffer posting a controversial video, and another about Haley Stevens' decision to break with Abdul El-Sayed in the Michigan Senate race.”

An embattled Karen Bass is fighting tooth and nail to keep her mayorship in LA. It might be too late Different event

The Guardian

⚖️ Leans left Hedges 5 of 78 claims Outlet record 66/100

“The articles describe different aspects of the mayoral election in Los Angeles, but not the same specific incident.”

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted

sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

14%

2 of 14 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

Leaning

withheld

no quote in the article backed the model's score

Publisher signals

66/100

New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

Outlets on this story

Politics

Same framing elsewhere

articles that frame the event the way this one does

Who wrote this

Marina Peña

66 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction

🔮 LA mayoral candidate Nithya Raman has dismissed a part-time staffer after he posted a video claiming former Michigan Senate candidate Haley Stevens had “tried to brainwash a lot of the black vote.”

2026-11-02 · assertive framing · Nithya Raman’s LA mayor bid in ‘disarray’ as staffer’s ‘racist’ video emerges

🔮 In a post on X, Essayli questioned why California could not use the same database it relies on to verify the citizenship of Medi-Cal applicants.

2026-11-02 · mixed framing · LA’s top federal prosecutor throws down the gauntlet as noncitizen voter fight goes down to the wire

🔮 Voters for the Fresno Unified School District race will still be able to make their selections, but when the machine prints their marked ballots, it will incorrectly identify the race as belonging to the Fowler Unified School District.

2026-11-01 · assertive framing · Election officials spot error on ballots for major California school district

🔮 “I could tell you that, we have had issues with sleep.

2026-10-29 · assertive framing · California neighbors go ballistic at huge Hindu temple after recording secret footage: ‘Very frustrating’

🔮 The Supreme Court will ultimately decide this matter.”

2026-10-28 · assertive framing · Federal judge says acting LA US Attorney is on the job unlawfully — but prosecutor vows he’s not going anywhere

🔮 Corona added that Ruiz also allegedly asked whether the girl’s mother would be home and talked about taking condoms.

2026-10-28 · assertive framing · LAPD creep snared by online vigilantes trying to meet with minor after making sure ‘mom’s not home’

🔮 Emil Barr warned the state’s political climate could drive away young business founders and cost residents job opportunities.

2026-10-18 · mixed framing · Ohio millionaire Emil Barr reveals why he suddenly shelved plans to move to San Francisco

🔮 The blaze is also expected to cause traffic disruptions in the surrounding area, with drivers advised to take alternate routes.

2026-10-15 · assertive framing · Huge fire breaks out at Los Angeles apartment complex as mass evacuations underway

🔮 Nithya Raman claimed she went into a “fugue state” and did not remember her Los Angeles mayoral debate with Karen Bass.

2026-10-14 · assertive framing · Wannabe LA mayor Nithya Raman claims she suffered rare psychiatric moment during Karen Bass debate

🔮 A tentative court ruling could reopen the door to fracking in Kern County, giving oil producers hope of tapping massive reserves that have remained out of reach under California’s ban.

2026-10-13 · assertive framing · Bombshell ruling that could unleash ‘one billion’ barrels of oil in California

Also by Marina Peña

Two California students left in horrific condition after high-speed train crash killed 69 in Spain

2026-11-02 · New York Post

LA’s top federal prosecutor throws down the gauntlet as noncitizen voter fight goes down to the wire

2026-11-02 · New York Post

Election officials spot error on ballots for major California school district

2026-11-01 · New York Post

California neighbors go ballistic at huge Hindu temple after recording secret footage: ‘Very frustrating’

2026-10-29 · New York Post

Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

All 66 articles by Marina Peña →

Narrative

Claims (14 extracted, 2 hedged)

LA mayoral candidate Nithya Raman has dismissed a part-time staffer after he posted a video claiming former Michigan Senate candidate Haley Stevens had “tried to brainwash a lot of the black vote.” asserted

Stevens → dismiss → vote

Eric Cheng, a political influencer who worked with the campaign to coordinate relationships with content creators, was removed from his position, according to the Raman’s campaign. uncertain

who → work → campaign

“Turns out basically Haley tried to brainwash a lot of the black vote…” Cheng says in a video explaining the state of the Michigan Senate race between Haley Stevens and Abdul El-Sayed. asserted

Cheng → turn → Stevens

Raman’s campaign condemned Cheng’s statements, calling them “reprehensible” and saying they “do not reflect our campaign.” asserted

they → condemn → campaign

“We’re aware of a video posted by a part-time staffer on his personal social media account commenting about the Michigan Senate race. asserted

We → ’re → race

“The comments in it are reprehensible and do not reflect our campaign. asserted

comments → reflect → campaign

We apologize. asserted

We → apologize → ?

This staffer is no longer with the campaign,” a post on X from Nithya Raman’s campaign said. asserted

post → say → campaign

The controversy gained attention after Mike Trujillo, a political consultant who backs incumbent Mayor Karen Bass, shared a post drawing attention to Cheng’s video. asserted

who → gain → video

Trujillo also criticized Raman’s campaign, writing: “This isn’t even funny. asserted

This → criticize → campaign

Nithya Raman staffer posts a video where he claims Congresswoman Haley Stevens has “brainwashed” the black vote in Michigan. uncertain

Stevens → post → Michigan

“Can the campaign apologize or will this take six days too? asserted

this → apologize → days

As for Haley Stevens, what she did was upsetting and wrong for a lot of Democrats, not sure why Nithya Raman’s campaign staffer needs to go after the African American community. asserted

staffer → need → community

The California Post contacted Nithya Raman’s campaign and Eric Cheng for comment, but did not receive an immediate response. asserted

Post → contact → response

Nithya Raman’s LA mayor bid in ‘disarray’ as staffer’s ‘racist’ video emerges

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Claims (14 extracted, 2 hedged)