Spencer Pratt broke his social media silence after his stunning Los Angeles mayoral defeat, but not as some might have expected.
Just hours after his campaign came to an end, Pratt posted a cryptic image of a lone duck floating across a sunset-lit lake.
The former reality star offered no caption or explanation as allies continued to challenge the election result.
The image immediately prompted speculation from followers trying to decipher its meaning.
“Calm On the Surface, Paddling Like Crazy Underneath,” one commenter wrote.
Pratt has yet to explain the post, but it arrived amid a growing MAGA backlash after the former The Hills star failed to secure a place in November’s mayoral runoff.
The Daily Beast reached out to Spencer Pratt’s campaign for comment.
Incumbent Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and City Councilwoman Nithya Raman advanced from the all-party primary, eliminating Pratt’s long-shot bid to lead America’s second-largest city.
The result triggered an outpouring of outrage in MAGAworld, with supporters questioning how Pratt had slipped from second place as additional ballots were counted.
Donald Trump weighed in before the race was officially called, suggesting, without evidence, that the election had been stolen.
“Not possible for Spencer Pratt to have lost the L.A. runoffs after the big lead he had,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“3rd World Nation. Rigged Elections!”
Vice President JD Vance also cast doubt on the result, telling Fox News that the outcome seemed “shady” because late-arriving mail ballots appeared to favor Raman.
“The way that they’re coming in just so happens to work out such that the Republican is getting kicked out of the final two, so it’s a Democrat-versus-Democrat runoff. That seems pretty shady to me,” Vance said to host Jesse Watters.
Further controversy emerged when Pratt’s sister, Stephanie Pratt, claimed she was unable to vote for her brother because his name allegedly did not appear on her ballot.
“I tried to vote twice for my brother with my Palisades address,” she wrote online.
“He was NOT on the ballot either time and they told me I couldn’t try a 3rd time.”
Her comments came as federal prosecutor Bill Essayli launched several investigations into alleged election irregularities following complaints from Republicans about California’s vote-counting process.
However, Essayli has revealed few details about the probes and has not publicly presented evidence of fraud in the Los Angeles mayoral race.
CNN data analyst Harry Enten has dismissed the allegations as politically nonsensical.
“This is the dumbest conspiracy theory I have ever heard because the Democratic establishment and Karen Bass wanted Spencer Pratt in the runoff,” Enten said on Monday.
Enten noted that Raman would likely pose a tougher challenge to Bass than Pratt in the deep-blue city.
“She wanted to face Pratt; she wanted nothing to do with Raman. That’s why these conspiracy theories, simply put, make no sense, people.”
