Steve Hilton, the Republican candidate for California governor, received a major boost Monday morning with an endorsement from President Donald Trump. Speaking to Human Events, Hilton shared his reaction to the news and outlined his agenda for the state, emphasizing energy independence, immigration enforcement, and voter ID initiatives.
“I’m fantastic. Great to be with you, Jack,” Hilton said, expressing excitement over his first public response to the endorsement. “We saw each other not that long ago, a few months ago in Bakersfield, when we were both there with Megan Kelly on her tour. And I told you then, I think that we can do this in California. People are sick of the nonsense after 16 years of Democrat one-party rule. It’s been getting better and better since then. I’ve been leading in the polls, leading on fundraising. There’s a lot of energy, and this was a great, great piece of news, totally unexpected.”
Hilton said he had not spoken to Trump prior to the announcement, but did connect afterward. He described the conversation as wide-ranging and focused on the challenges in California politics.
“He was very aware of the dynamics of the race, the Democrat candidates, the other Republican in the race. We had a bit of a conversation about that. But the thing that we most discussed, and the thing that is so exciting about the prospect of the potential change we can bring about in California, is like, imagine what it will be like when I win in November, take office in January, and then you've got the governor of our biggest state, by far the biggest economy in America, working with the President and his team," Hilton said.
He added that his Republican administration in California could collaborate with the federal government to implement “common sense goals like energy independence and finding fraud and enforcing our immigration laws, all these things and many, many more."
Hilton also slammed current Governor Gavin Newsom for driving up gas prices through policy decisions and regulatory restrictions.
“However bad it is in America in terms of the temporary spike from what’s going on in the Middle East, it’s at least $2 a gallon worse in California. Trump is the president here as well. The Iran war is also going on, as it were, here. So it can’t be that. It’s obviously not that. It's obviously Gavin Newsom and his policies—a combination of the gas tax, which is the highest in the country, the regulations on production and refining of oil ... and shutting down our oil and gas industry in California. We have abundant oil reserves in California, and yet we're closing it down. We are now importing nearly 80% of the oil we use,” Hilton said.
He went over solutions for Californians facing high gas prices, including suspending the gas tax and reopening in-state oil and gas production: “We think that if we’ve got a sensible attitude there, we can double California oil and gas production every two years. That creates more business for the refineries, so they don’t have to close down, so we don’t have to import finished gasoline. And the whole system can get back on track.”
“It’s all about turnout in a midterm election, and voter ID on the ballot in November is a huge driver of Republican turnout. That’s one of the big reasons I think we can win.”
“I’m fantastic. Great to be with you, Jack,” Hilton said, expressing excitement over his first public response to the endorsement. “We saw each other not that long ago, a few months ago in Bakersfield, when we were both there with Megan Kelly on her tour. And I told you then, I think that we can do this in California. People are sick of the nonsense after 16 years of Democrat one-party rule. It’s been getting better and better since then. I’ve been leading in the polls, leading on fundraising. There’s a lot of energy, and this was a great, great piece of news, totally unexpected.”
Hilton said he had not spoken to Trump prior to the announcement, but did connect afterward. He described the conversation as wide-ranging and focused on the challenges in California politics.
“He was very aware of the dynamics of the race, the Democrat candidates, the other Republican in the race. We had a bit of a conversation about that. But the thing that we most discussed, and the thing that is so exciting about the prospect of the potential change we can bring about in California, is like, imagine what it will be like when I win in November, take office in January, and then you've got the governor of our biggest state, by far the biggest economy in America, working with the President and his team," Hilton said.
He added that his Republican administration in California could collaborate with the federal government to implement “common sense goals like energy independence and finding fraud and enforcing our immigration laws, all these things and many, many more."
Hilton also slammed current Governor Gavin Newsom for driving up gas prices through policy decisions and regulatory restrictions.
“However bad it is in America in terms of the temporary spike from what’s going on in the Middle East, it’s at least $2 a gallon worse in California. Trump is the president here as well. The Iran war is also going on, as it were, here. So it can’t be that. It’s obviously not that. It's obviously Gavin Newsom and his policies—a combination of the gas tax, which is the highest in the country, the regulations on production and refining of oil ... and shutting down our oil and gas industry in California. We have abundant oil reserves in California, and yet we're closing it down. We are now importing nearly 80% of the oil we use,” Hilton said.
He went over solutions for Californians facing high gas prices, including suspending the gas tax and reopening in-state oil and gas production: “We think that if we’ve got a sensible attitude there, we can double California oil and gas production every two years. That creates more business for the refineries, so they don’t have to close down, so we don’t have to import finished gasoline. And the whole system can get back on track.”
“It’s all about turnout in a midterm election, and voter ID on the ballot in November is a huge driver of Republican turnout. That’s one of the big reasons I think we can win.”
