California Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton blasted Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom on Newsmax’s “National Report” Friday, saying the Democrat has no business lecturing world leaders on climate policy while his own state “falls further and further into stagnation and decline.”
Hilton argued that Newsom’s trip to the COP30 climate conference in Brazil underscores a widening gap between the governor’s rhetoric and the struggles facing California families.
“He's preening himself in front of the global climate elite, while the state that he's supposed to be running falls further and further into stagnation and decline and hurts the working people of this state,” Hilton said.
He framed Newsom’s policies as not only ineffective for the environment but actively harmful to Californians grappling with soaring costs of living, sky-high energy prices, and a weakened oil sector.
Hilton highlighted what he called Newsom’s “insane climate policies” that have led to a steep drop in in-state oil production.
“We are now importing nearly 80% of the oil we use in California,” he said, noting that much of it comes from places like the Amazon rainforest.
“We used to get it mostly from California and guess where it's coming from, among other places? The Amazon rainforest, where [Newsom] has just flown to lecture everyone on climate change,” he added.
Hilton also drew a connection between the state’s rising electricity bills and Newsom’s agenda.
“Because of your insane climate policies, electric bills in California have doubled in the last 10 years and are now more than double the national average, higher than everywhere in America apart from Hawaii,” he said, pointing to California’s nation-leading gas prices and vast untapped oil reserves.
The Republican contender slammed Newsom for what he described as his “shameless and brazen lying,” and alluded to the term-limited governor’s potential 2028 White House run.
“This guy is an unbelievable, shameless, pathological liar and he needs to be exposed,” Hilton said. “He's ruined California. We cannot let him go on to try and ruin America.”
Hilton also questioned the global impact of aggressive climate mandates, asserting that they have produced “zero” measurable results while nations like China continue expanding coal-fired power plants.
“The only thing that's happened that's a direct result of this is massive pain for regular working people and families,” Hilton argued, blaming “extortionate costs” created by policies he says fail to meet their environmental benchmarks.
He closed by urging voters to reject the governor’s climate platform altogether.
“The sooner we can dismantle this totally insane climate agenda that Gavin Newsom is now lecturing us about, the better,” Hilton said.
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