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Good afternoon, Steve Hilton. Thank you so much for sitting down with us at California Courier.

>> great to

be with you. Um you just wrapped up a panel with Chad Bianco, also another Republican running in the gubernatorial race. I kind of want to just start with some of your campaign ideas. The first one is that you've obviously got a clear tax plan, no income tax under 100K and a 7.5 flat

rate above that. How exactly do you plan to get the Democratic supermajority in the legislature to go along with it without the services of the middle-class

Well, the first thing we got to say is why we need to cut taxes in California cuz we have an insane level of taxation. We have the highest taxes in the country for the worst results. And one of the consequences of that is that we have on all these measures the worst performance of any state. It's really shocking. Right now, we have the highest poverty rate in

the country, tied with Louisiana. We have the highest unemployment rate of all 50 states. We have the highest cost of living. We have the high the worst business climate, according to Chief Executive Magazine, for the last 10 years. So, businesses are leaving, investment is going, jobs aren't being created. That's why we have high employment, high unemployment, and high poverty. So, a huge part of that is the tax burden, and we've got to reduce it, and that means we have to reduce spending. So, that's the starting point. When you look at who's really suffering as a result of all these things, not

the high cost of gas and housing, groceries, all of these the most expensive in the country. Electric bills, the second highest after Hawaii. Um insurance, you know, all these unbelievable burdens. Working class Californians are hurting the most. Regular working people who work incredibly hard, and everything's so expensive, and then they're taxed for it. And so, the first I mean in in many counties, the official

level is now $100,000. So, I mean, other states, you look at 100,000 and think, "That's a decent income." In California, it doesn't get you very far. So, the last thing we should be doing is taxing those people. That's why I wanted to start with that. $100,000 is a to raise the threshold for paying state income tax. That would help millions of Californians thousands of dollars extra in their budgets every year. That one, I think that we can I think there's a very real prospect of getting that through the legislature cuz one thing I've noticed is that that my tax plan, or that part of it, has actually been copied by some of the other Democrat candidates, including Katie Porter.

Mhm. And so, I think that actually we can get support for for that part of it. That's the pro-worker part. The second part, which is a flat tax above 100,000, 7.5%. Now, that is going to be much harder to implement. Partly because a lot of these tax our tax is not just too high, they're too complicated. We've got endless different tax bands that make it really fiddly and annoying and bureaucratic to do your taxes. And it it's a real disincentive to start businesses here. I'm a business owner. Uh most of my career's been in business, and it's just a nightmare. And the taxes are a big part of it. Now, some of those tax rates that we have have been established by ballot initiative over the years. That's one of the reasons we have this complicated system. So, it won't be easy to undo that. Um but I think we just got to make the argument. And so, my attitude to all of this is your starting point is see what you can get done through the legislature. Then see what you can get done through executive action through

the um administrative agencies. And then if none of that works, then for these really major reforms, we probably will have to go to a ballot initiative at some point in the future after I'm elected and take office

January. I mean, do you have the constant narrative from Republicans, especially within the state, that you can't work with

Uh how do you plan to do that? Like, what is the logistics there? Well, I mean, it's just

You have to. I mean that's how it works. That's how our system works. So I've got a very strong focus, you know, when I'm when I'm the general election candidate, I'm very clear that my responsibility as the top of the ticket in California is to help elect Republicans everywhere. It's not just about my race, it's about the other statewide races. I'm the first candidate ever that from either party that's put together a a team to run for the other statewide offices. We can get to that a little bit later, but in terms of the legislature, it's going to be huge priority for me to try and help elect more Republicans this cycle in the assembly and the senate because there we do have a chance to break the supermajority this this year. It's it's not going to be easy, but it's not impossible. So even if we get rid of the supermajority in one of the two chambers, that's already really helpful because then they won't be able to just block everything. And so you start to create some opportunity there. I think also the

that when I'm elected this year, nobody expects a Republican to win in terms of the demo they're so arrogant. It's 16 years of one-party rule. They think it's going to go on forever. But actually, I think we've got a very good shot this year. When I'm elected, that's going to be a political revolution in California. And I think when I take office in Sacramento in January, it really will change the dynamic. I really believe that. It's hard to imagine it right now, but it's going to be a shock to these Democrats that they've got a Republican governor. And I think we will be able to do that to work with them. There's a couple of things I'd add. Number one, I've got experience of doing that. So most of my career, as I said, I've I've been in

working around the world, but also starting my own companies including restaurants, a whole range of different businesses. But I have had a few years working in government at the a

I was senior advisor to the Prime Minister in the UK. I worked in 10 Downing Street. I had a little office there next to the cabinet room and worked to try and

in a coalition government. So, my boss was David Cameron, the prime conservative prime minister, but it was a coalition with another party, the Liberal Democrat Party. And I shared an office with my opposite number in the other party, Polly Mackenzie. We used to, you know, argue a lot, and but we also worked together to find the areas where we could make change happen. So, I've got experience of doing that. It's not easy, and of course you're not going to get everything done that way, but it's not true to say nothing can happen. And I think that

will uh change things to have a Republican governor. I think the whole mood in Sacramento will change. A lot of things that are seen as impossible will suddenly start to become more realistic. The other thing

point to, and now talking about the team I've I've put together to run with me for the other statewide offices, including for

and that's a the concept of a ticket has never been done before in California uh statewide races, and so we

can but I think it we've got to try new things, and do

things differently. Gloria Romero, who's running with me for Lieutenant Governor, she was previously the Democrat leader

So, that was many years ago, and she left the party. She She used to work across the aisle, but then the party went very left-wing. I met her when she was working with Ric Grenell on a ballot initiative for school choice. It was Ric who introduced me to Gloria. And she's now a Republican, fully signed up. She's endorsed President Trump, spoke at the Coachella rally, but she still has relationships there. As the Lieutenant Governor, you're the president of the Senate. And so, you have a big role to play. She understands how that system and the process work in the legislature. And so, I'm running I'm obviously an outsider. I've never run for office before, and I'm going there as an outsider to take on all the nonsense in Sacramento, but I think it's going to be helpful to have by my side someone who has been there, and knows how it works, and has relationships in the Democrats. I mean, I

Gloria,

were launching some policy thing and went into the the state capital. And it's a long time since she's been there and she's a Republican now, but they invited her onto the Senate floor as a mark of respect. She was previously the leader. I watched it from the gallery. They all

stood and cheered. Democrats, cuz there's relationships there. And so, I

it seems

out of reach, the idea that we could actually have something positive happen, but I don't know. I've got I've got a very strong feeling that in these various ways we really can get some

things done. Pivoting a little and touching on your small businesses, we wanted to give you the chance to speak about this because we spoke to Chad Bianco prior to the

panel. >> Um he made some question questions about you running a small business, exactly what businesses those were, Yes. questioned the fast pa- or the fast track, in quotes, about your citizenship, and then also your ties

with Democratic leaders um and working with them. And I wanted to give you a chance to speak on that. I don't have the exact quotes in front of me, so I'm summing it up a little bit in three

>> Well, the first business I started was 1997, a company called Good Business. Um and we were a consulting firm. We worked with some of the biggest companies

world. Um then about 2

years later, we laun- with my business partner, we launched a couple of restaurants in the UK called The Good Cook, which is kind of an offshoot of our consulting business, but it was, you know, two real restaurants

That's a really tough business, to be honest. You learn a lot from it,

in some ways we did well, in other ways it was tough, you know, it's very very difficult to make money in that

Um then um I went back into politics and government, worked in in 10 Downing Street for a while. We moved here in 2012 with my wife and my two sons. And uh for the first couple of years I would say I taught at Stanford, but then I launched another business here, tech company, a tech platform called CrowdPac. And that

a crowdfunding platform for politics and candidates and political causes. And so that's an equivalent, you could think of it as a GoFundMe for political candidates and so on. And so that was a business that started, I think, well, I got going 2013, probably launched 2014. Around that for a few years before being

invited to host on

then after that, the final business that I started was a media company, really to produce podcasts and and so on. That was CR Productions. So there's been the four in total. Okay. >> So that's that. I don't know what he's talking about with this fast track thing. It's completely ridiculous. We, you know, it wasn't that fast. We moved here in

2012 on a visa.

That then got applied for a green card and got that and got my citizenship in 2021, nine years. So I actually genuinely don't understand what that's about. Do you have any more specifics on

what the allegation is? The for the citizenship, he just questioned how fast you got your citizenship.

Yes. >>

Um Well, I mean, to me it doesn't seem that fast, but I mean, for others in the state it might be fast.

>> Well, I don't, I literally think that is a completely

smear, which I don't even understand. I don't understand why someone would

question

the process there when it's just an independent bureaucratic process that that's the same that everyone has to go

through. Yeah. It's really

And then did you want to address the working ties with

Democrats? >> So what specifically, that I don't understand again. What was the specific

thing there? Again, don't have the quotes in front of me, but just the allegations of working across the aisle and how closely you've worked with

in the past.

Well, partly we've just been discussing how important it's going to be to be able to work with Democrats in order to make change happen. But actually, I think what's being referred to there is my one of my businesses, Crowd Pac, which is a crowdfunding platform

politics and candidates and so on. And it was an open platform. So like GoFundMe or like

X. So I think what he's getting at there is that Democrats used my business to raise

money. As did Republicans, as did anyone who wanted to. So it's a little bit like

criticizing

for things that Democrats say on X. It's

open platform, yeah. Um

Perfect.

>> And

And then touching on another uh topic for you, on abortion. So California voters in the Republican um party are very strong pro-life, but the state doesn't always agree with that. Um what is your take on that and

that issue? >> I think we have to be practical. I've always been really clear that I never want to say something that can't be delivered just to make people feel good about whatever the issue may be. I always want to be realistic about what you can do. And on this particular issue, which is so deeply felt and and is so personal for so many people, um I think there's just a couple of things I'd say. First of all, I do think that it's right that the issue was now for so many years it was in the hands of judges and the people felt they didn't have a say. And thanks to President Trump's Supreme Court appointments and where that led, it now has been put back in the hands of the people through their representatives because states have been able to make their own determinations on that issue. And you've seen a wide range of policies implemented across America. And I totally support that approach because there's you know, the idea that you've got one size fits all on something that's so personal and people have such strong views about was always one of the real problems with this issue. People felt that their voices weren't heard. Now, in the end, you've got to decide what level this is regulated. You know, it has to be regulated at some level. Previously, it was the national level, now it's at the state level. And so, in different states, they voted for different things. Here in California, in 2022 that it was

um to be enshrined in the state constitution the right to abortion and it was and it was passed with a 2/3 majority. So, that's that's how it works. That's how the system works. So, my my attitude to this is what can I get done as governor to move us in

in the in the sort of direction of life, towards life um in a way that I can actually deliver. So, the first thing I'd say on that is that all the other things I want to get done for California to make it to make our state as I say Calaffordable, um to make this a place where young people want to, you know, can see a future where they can start and start a family here. One of the most heartbreaking things to me is when you talk to young people and they say, "Well, I can't imagine living in California, it's too expensive. I'll never be able to do it here. I have to move to another state." I want this to be a place where people see the opportunity to start and raise a family and have children and and and grow their families here in California. Something I talked to Charlie Kirk about a lot. Um he was a good friend of mine and endorsed me on day one and it was a big thing, big focus for him as well. Um that ability to to cuz you you hear stories where people say, "Yeah, I'd love to have more children,

but it's too expensive or I can't afford a I can only afford a tiny apartment and so I can etc." We've got to change all that. So, that's actually part of the story of moving us towards life. More specifically on the

you got you got a couple of things. First of all, I think we have to um just encourage a culture of responsibility on this. One of the things that I just

really I'm going to use a pretty strong word, it's kind of disgusting actually, is the

that it's just the way that this issue has

particularly you know, in places like California, is that it's almost as if abortion is now seen as a perfectly acceptable form of birth control. It's just like any and I just think that's really, really dark and and not where we want to be as a society. So,

to and you should and

through working with the faith I've had lots of conversations, for example, with Jack Hibbs, who's a big supporter of mine from Calvary Chapel, Chino Hills, and others in the faith community about how we can work together to encourage more

responsibility, a culture of responsibility, so we minimize the number of unwanted pregnancies in the first place. So, there's something you can do more actively on that as governor, and I will. Secondly, if you are in that situation, I think it's just outrageous that what you're seeing now from the government in California is

actively

um pro-life centers and places that are um I just met someone who runs one of

those this morning. Um encouraging adoption, for example, as an

alternative um and helping helping um prospective mothers think it think through that process. That's been discouraged and actually aggressively targeted by the Newsom administration, so that we need to reverse and encourage adoption as an alternative. And then the final piece of it,

you know, spending taxpayer money promoting abortion, which is what's happening right now. Our money is just

you know, again, like stuff that I just think

what some people have described as

abortion

tourism, Yeah.

where our taxpayer money is being spent on ads in

other

states yeah, saying come to California. All that's

That was going to be my question about Newsom's ties with Planned Parenthood. So, the last question for you is that Bianco obviously stated on the stage that he would not endorse you until you

publicly apologize to his family. Do you have any statements regarding that?

Well, I do again, I don't really understand what he's talking about cuz I think what he

about you know, the the way he framed it was as if what I was saying wasn't true. I've never said anything about him that's not true. Nothing. Um uh I I mean, the things that I've been pointing out are things that are true about his record, unlike what's been said about me as we've just discussed, not true at all. Um and people can watch for themselves. I think what he's getting at is the uh the fact that when he was as sheriff during the Black Lives Matter riots in 2020, he took a knee for Black Lives Matter. And he argues that he was

I've never said one way or another. I've just said that it's clear that he took a knee. That's a physical action, taking a knee. And you can

that. That I mean, it's it's documented. There's video. There's photographs. You can watch it at it's on a website, blmbianco.org. So, people can see that for themselves. So, it's obvious that he took a knee. The he challenges the interpretation of that as being something that was done for BLM, and he says he was praying. That's what he says. He said it many times. I've heard him say it

Now, you people just watch the video and see

I don't think I've ever said anything about that

true. And it's not backed up by documented evidence on the day. The second thing um I've pointed out, maybe he's getting

this, is again just repeating what he said on an issue that's a that that is actually probably the biggest policy area where we really have a disagreement, which is on immigration. Where he has said a number of things that I just strongly disagree with. He's said that he won't his and his his the sheriffs in his department won't work with the federal authorities to enforce immigration law. I disagree with that. The sanctuary state law in California allows for cooperation between state and federal immigration law enforcement on immigration. So, I don't know why he would not want to do that. He said that. It's a video, you can watch it. Um the uh other part of this that I strongly disagree with is his contention that people who are here um who came across the border during the Biden years are actually here legally. And his view that which again I'm quoting his words word for word now that it doesn't matter how you came here, the 10 to 11 million people who came under Biden the legal immigrants here, um we have to give them a pathway to citizenship. I just disagree with that. That's rewarding lawbreaking. Um we as I often point out, we already have a pathway to citizenship. It's called legal immigration. I just took it. And so, I just disagree. Now, he may

not like the fact that when this issue comes up, I'm pointing out um his past statements, but they're his words.

never said

true. Well, perfect. Thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it.