California Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton said on Newsmax that Gov. Gavin Newsom's recent pledge to crack down on crime in major California cities "is literally unbelievable" because "he's said all this before."
"This guy is a complete joke, a total buffoon," Hilton told "Newsline" Friday. "He says all these things, I mean, this is I don't know how many times he's announced a crackdown on crime in California and then nothing happens.
"He did it with Oakland a year or so ago, totally out of control chaos and crime and lawlessness. A complete collapse of civilized life in Oakland, in the Bay area, and this is exactly what Newsom said then – 'California Highway Patrol, we're going to go in there and sort it out.' Days later, they had a few officers went in, and days later they were pulled out. Nothing happened.
"He's sitting there talking about building on the success," he continued. "It's all total B.S. with this guy. He never, ever does any kind of follow-through or delivery and that's why we have out-of-control crime and the worst results on absolutely everything in the country. The highest poverty rate, highest unemployment rate, highest taxes, highest cost for gas, electricity. Everything is a disaster with Gavin Newsom."
Laying out a vision for the 2026 California governor's race, Hilton said he's "going to make sure" that Newsom is "held accountable for his total failures."
"In 2026, I'm going to run and take him on over his appalling record, and the Democrats who've been in power, now 15 years of one-party rule, and we're going to win on gas prices," he said. "That's the direct result of Gavin Newsom and the Democrats' policies. The climate elitism that's crushing working class people in California who usually have to drive hours a day in their cars and trucks to get to work. I've got a plan for $3 gas by getting rid of the climate regulations. In the rest of the country, as you point out, $3 gas isn't even that great, but in California it would be transformational."
Driving home his point, Hilton said "in terms of Gavin Newsom, we're going to make sure not only that we win here in 2026, but that everyone in America understands what a disaster this guy is, how he completely fails to deliver on anything, and you can't let him anywhere near the White House."
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Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.
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