LOS ANGELES (KABC) — As former Fox News host Steve Hilton launches his run-off election campaign for governor of California against Democrat Xavier Becerra, Hilton isn’t running away from President Donald Trump’s endorsement.<\/p>\n
Instead, he says it’s the only thing Democrats can attack him on.<\/p>\n
“The president endorses whoever he wants to endorse or not endorse,” Hilton told Eyewitness News in a one-on-one interview. “It doesn’t change the fact that what I’m fighting for is lower gas, lower tax, dealing with the cost of living, practical things for Californians.<\/p>\n
“Most of those things are affected by the policy decisions we make here in California, and I think that’s why you’ve got a majority of Californians now saying we need to change direction. So, you’ve got the 29% approval of President Trump in that poll, but you’ve got 57% who say that California is on the wrong track and needs change. And that’s the basis of what I think will be a victory for change in November that’s going to surprise a lot of people.”<\/p>\n
Hilton was asked how he would respond if Trump offered to campaign for him in California.<\/p>\n
“What I’ve focused on is the policy cooperation. For example, one of the ways we get to $3 gas – my plan – is to make sure that instead of importing oil from halfway around the world on giant supertankers that’s actually bad for the environment, let’s use California oil,” Hilton said.<\/p>\n
Hilton was born in the United Kingdom where he served as director of strategy for former Prime Minister David Cameron and then moved to California in 2012. He became a U.S. citizen in 2021.<\/p>\n
A small business owner, Hilton lives in Northern California with his wife, a tech industry executive and their two sons. On the campaign trail, Hilton has discussed launching California’s own version of DOGE and investigating fraud.<\/p>\n
But when asked about this, Hilton discussed investigating something else.<\/p>\n
“We had the longest and most cruel lockdowns and school closures in the country, and some of that, I suspect, was the result of a corrupt relationship between the politicians who made the decisions and the unions who fund them,” Hilton said. “And that’s something I think we’ve got to look at. We can’t just forget all these things. Real pain was caused. Kids lost years of learning that we’re still feeling the consequence.”<\/p>\n
Hilton was asked if he would investigate COVID-19 lockdowns from six years ago.<\/p>\n
“Yeah, very much so, and to make sure that nothing like that ever happens again… We’re still living with the costs. I mean, you talk about the budget, the bloat in the budget. A lot of that started during the pandemic. It’s still there, in the budgets.”<\/p>\n
Hilton was questioned about whether such an investigation would be an appropriate use of state resources.<\/p>\n
“It’s going to be done in six months,” Hilton answered. “… It’s not going to be a lot of money, and it’s not gonna take a lot time, because I think we’ll get the answer very quickly.”<\/p>\n
If elected, Hilton has pledged to shrink the size of state government and Californians would pay no state income tax on their first $150,000 of income. Income above $150,000 would be taxed at an 8% rate.<\/p>\n
Hilton was shown polling that 74% of registered voters in California don’t approve of the work ICE is doing. Hilton was asked whether he would work with ICE.<\/p>\n
“Well, it’s the law. I mean, you’ve got to uphold the law, and we have a Constitution in this country, as we do in California, and it’s very clear. Look, I’m a great believer in decentralizing power. I think that if power is held as close to the people as possible, that’s best. But there are some things that it’s clearly the case that the federal government is responsible for, and immigration is one of them,” Hilton said.<\/p>\n
It’s unclear how Hilton would get his proposals through the Democratic supermajority in Sacramento. California hasn’t elected a Republican governor in more than 15 years.<\/p>\n
Hilton was then asked whether he would protect reproductive freedom in California or try and change the laws on patient privacy and access to abortion medications.<\/p>\n
“Well, I think this is a really complicated issue,” Hilton said. “First of all, the governor has no real, on the basic question of these rights, the right to an abortion, that is something that’s now enshrined in California’s constitution as of 2022. That’s not gonna change.”
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