Xavier Becerra, Steve Hilton, CA governor debate Sept. 30, 2026. (Photo: X)
Steve Hilton Lands Debate Punches on ‘Bitch *ss’ Xavier Becerra
Hilton went on offense from the start, pressing Becerra on his record as attorney general and as Biden HHS secretary
By Katy Grimes, October 1, 2026 7:36 am
The debate Wednesday night on CNN was the only scheduled head-to-head between Xavier Becerra and Steve Hilton, moderated by Dana Bash and Jake Tapper. It was an hour long, with no studio audience.
And Steve Hilton was up against three opponents.
It was heated, got personal, and focused on California’s cost of living, the housing crisis, high taxes, illegal immigration, and AI.
Anyone watching the debate between Becerra and Hilton, candidates for California Governor, could see that CNN’s Dana Bash interrupted Hilton, and changed the subject whenever Becerra floundered.
Becerra kept bringing up Trump as a defense and did not answer most questions, deflecting instead to his immigrant parents who arrived in the U.S. with $12, his hope of becoming the first Latino governor, lawsuits he filed as California attorney general, or national politics.
Steve Hilton dismantled Xavier Becerra in the California debate. But will it matter with California’s low-information voters?
(Click on my X post to see the entire thread during the debate)
WOW. @SteveHiltonx is destroying @XavierBecerra. But @DanaBashCNN interrupts Hilton whenever Becerra flounders, and changes the subject.
And if I have to count how many times Becerra says 'Trump' I may have to start a drinking game. pic.twitter.com/sGrEmgAoLQ
— Katy Grimes (@KATYSaccitizen) October 1, 2026
Hilton went on offense from the start, pressing Becerra on his record as attorney general and as Biden HHS secretary.
Hilton proposed eliminating state income tax on the first $150,000 of income, applying a flat 8% rate above that, and repealing the gas tax. He said, “the quickest way to get more money in people’s pockets is for the government to take less out.”
Becerra immediately labeled it “Trump tax cuts” that would give “the wealthiest Californians a 40% tax break” and claimed it would take money from publicly funded schools and Medi-Cal healthcare. Becerra claimed “the math doesn’t add up.” Hilton answered with an economic fact: that the cuts help both working people and job-creators. When Becerra invoked “the definition of insanity” is doing the same thing over and over, Hilton shot back “like voting Democrat?”
Hilton challenged Becerra to name specific instances of cutting red tape to help the housing shortage. Becerra claimed he made housing more affordable while he was attorney general. But homes in California have never been higher. The median price of an existing single-family home is $901,420 as of August 2026.
Hilton proposed capping government fees at $50,000 per new home, down from the current $200,000, and proposed building 10 new cities throughout the state, instead of continuing to build existing cities up. Becerra said he would enforce existing laws requiring cities to build their share of housing and cited his lawsuit against Huntington Beach as attorney general.
On cutting red tape, a tone-deaf Becerra pointed to a lawsuit against Huntington Beach, which Hilton said was just more red tape. And he is right. In 2019, Gov. Gavin Newsom singled Huntington Beach out of 50 California cities out of compliance with the state’s affordable housing requirements, because they didn’t have a current/compliant affordable housing element in their general plan, I reported at the time. What’s lost in this mandate is that even if the cities were “in compliance,” there’s no requirement in the legislation to build.
It was Newsom’s first lawsuit after being sworn in as governor against a city, and many said Huntington Beach was targeted because it is a Republican stronghold.
Hilton brought up the Susan Rice comments calling Becerra an “idiot” and “bitch-ass” when he was HHS Secretary during the Biden administration, and accused him of never creating a job in more than three decades in politics. Axios originally reported “Rice referred to Becerra as a ‘bitch-ass’ and privately called him an ‘idiot,’ according to multiple sources.”
Hilton ran circles around Becerra. Becerra struggled to answer basic questions about his own record and often replied with questions of his own—as if asking how he would fix California’s housing crisis or lower taxes.
Becerra’s sole tactic was to try to link Hilton to Trump at every opportunity, calling policies “Trump’s taxes,” “Trump’s immigration policy,” etc…
I stopped counting when Becerra named Trump more than a 15 times. Hilton certainly noticed and called Becerra out for this tactic. “All you ever say is ‘Trump, Trump, Trump.’” It was the predictable Democrat strategy. I just didn’t expect Becerra to be so robotic about it.
Hilton did a good job keeping the focus on California’s chronic problems California has faced for more than 16 years of Democratic supermajority control.
California’s rebel spirit is being CRUSHED by the same bloated nanny state Xavier Becerra has been a part of for 36 years.
It’s time to try something different!
I’ll throw out the insiders, cut your costs and give you your state back. pic.twitter.com/rRopoyOamW
— Steve Hilton (@SteveHiltonx) October 1, 2026
Becerra looked at the camera and urged voters to send a message to Donald Trump and Steve Hilton by electing him—“for change.”
🤦♀️ Change? I noted Becerra has been in politics for more than 35 years.
The other thing I noticed was how many SEIU political ads ran during the debate. That was no coincidence, especially after Becerra claimed he had the support of police, fire, and construction workers. He may have the financial backing of their unions, but I doubt the union members will vote for him.
Hilton attacked Becerra’s HHS tenure, citing the 479,000 unaccompanied migrant children, and reports of children being placed with traffickers after vetting systems were loosened. Rather than explain this horrific number, Becerra called those “Trump talking points,” said Trump “used to put kids in cages,” and declared he was proud of his immigration record. No word on the missing migrant children.
“California welcomed you into California, and you welcomed ICE mercenaries into our state in return… You seem to welcome immigrants who look like you, but deport immigrants who look like me,” Becerra said in a very practiced statement. Hilton called the remark “disgraceful” and said Becerra’s party was not even enforcing existing California law, noting that he is a legal U.S. immigrant. Hilton and his parents immigrated from Hungary to the UK.
“When you weren’t even in California” is Becerra’s go-to against Hilton. Hilton is a legal immigrant, which must totally grate on Becerra, I noted on X.
On the topic of AI, Hilton said he would wait and assess whether California needed heavier AI regulation. He did offer that AI should be kept out of K-12 schools for now. Becerra immediately said “if you listen closely, you can hear Donald Trump in that response. He’s not interested in regulating AI.” Hilton asked how much money Becerra had taken from OpenAI and Anthropic, noting Becerra’s large political contributions from AI tech.
Rather than addressing the political contribution question directly, Becerra pivoted to listing companies he had sued including Meta, Amazon, Google.
Dana Bash brought up measles, blaming the unvaccinated for a measles outbreak. Hilton noted that around the world where vaccine mandates are fewer, compliance is better. He added that letting people choose would help usher in trust in medical providers again.
“Why did you suggest forcefully that children should be given the vaccine?” Hilton asked, referring Becerra when he was HHS Secretary. Becerra replied, “your friend Donald Trump went along with it.” Hilton refuted all of it. “We followed the science,” Becerra said, channeling Anthony Fauci. Becerra was clearly trying to rewrite his Covid history.
Becerra claimed almost every policy difference as “Trump results.” Hilton called it out mid-debate: “All you ever say is ‘Trump, Trump, Trump’… that’s nothing but an insult to every Californian who is desperate for something to change in this state, and all you’re offering is more of the same.” Becerra’s response: “you chased his endorsement.”
Hilton charged that in 36 years in government, Becerra had “never created a job.”
Hilton was far more assertive and landed more direct hits on Becerra’s record, pressing Becerra frequently for pivoting from state policies to national politics.
My final comment on X: “So glad that is over. CNN is unscrupulous.”
A California native and Navy mom, Katy lives in Sacramento, CA.
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Becerra’s campaign from the basement reeks of confidence in the party’s ability to stuff the ballot box.
A page out of good ole Joe’s playbook.
Glad that Katy Grimes provided a recap of the debate because some of us never watch the Democrat’s propaganda outlet CNN and listening to the mutterings of a career Democrat DEI dimwit like Becerra would be excruciatingly painful. No one in their right mind would vote for Becerra so the criminal Democrat thug mafia will have to install him with voter fraud and rigged voting machines.
That’s right TJ.
Without that we wouldn’t have to worry about Becerra as Gov because you are SO RIGHT, no one would be caught dead voting for this guy, the Dems’ “bitch-ass.” (That unfortunate phrase FITS Becerra SO WELL)
Becerra’s entire defense were nothing more than Democrat Talking Points. He is the Emptiest of Suits and if he wins will be nothing more than a Puppet Governor. It amazes me how California continues to sink lower and lower in this Bottomless Pit of socialism.
Voters who have been taught to depend on government, union support, and income without merit (or work) prefer slavery to benefits over responsible virtues of individual liberty . . . Under God.
Becerra is a career politician without principles. As HHS Secretary, he instituted “science” without humanity.
“Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become more corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters.” — Ben Franklin
why were the closing of refineries, the train to nowhere, the lack of planning about water, the democrat failure with the fires in Los Angeles not mentioned?
John, by my estimates, the failures of the Progressive Democrat Thug mafia and their idiot Governor that has run this state into the ground are many.
Much Much more than an hour of debate could cover. With this many failures it would probably have to be at least a 3 hour debate. But you’re right. The bullet train to no where and the refinery closures would have been interesting. If nothing else just to see botcharea squirm a little bit. Better yet ALOT! Hilton still mopped the floor with his B**ch a**.
We need a gatekeeper to veto the Communist Democrat bills. Becerra is just a rubber stamper. With Becerra it will just be more of the same citizen oppression. More high gas prices. More high electricity prices. More high housing cost. More high crime.
Enough is enough. No more Democrats as Governor.
By my count, Becerra used Trump’s name 38 times. I didn’t know that Trump was running for governor. I would have liked to hear about the train to nowhere and the huge budget deficit that CA faces. CNN should have asked questions that CA taxpayers want to hear answers to.
Targeting an opponent as the “Trumpy” candidates is the only game plan Democrats offer. Worked for Adam Schiff so why not run with it again.
Becerra embarrassed himself last night at the debate. He also proved had has no internal regulation system. He did not even know how stupid he sounded … Trump, Trump, Trump, Trump ………. x 38.
Becerra IS an “idiot” and Susan Rice’s “bitch-ass” for sure — sorry to say it, although obviously it would have come off better if it hadn’t been Hilton, but someone else, who had to say it under these circumstances. But who has a magic wand? No one.
Of all the many many items on the list Becerra supposedly “champions” (even though he is an idiot who does know WHAT he wants or would do) that would further hurt the state, probably the most highly smack-able one that sticks in my craw the worst is his pride in suing Huntington Beach. Wow. He had better watch where he says that because if he says it again around me he’s better duck because I will at least TRY to spit in his face if he does.
By the way, folks, this is not over, in spite of all the naysaying and predictions and polls, so don’t give up yet, and PLEASE VOTE. Because high turnout will make all the difference, and besides, think of the A.G. race (Michael Gates) and the other important races and the ballot measures, etc.
ALSO, those of you who can vote in L.A., you want to be sure to vote for John McKinney for City Attorney, a fine fine prosecutor (Deputy D.A.) who ran for D.A. back when, and he is GOOD. He plans to return the City Attorney’s office to one that will prosecute criminal misdemeanors, which the present commie in the office has simply not done, and which will make SUCH a difference in the City of L.A. it will transform the place in what happens day-to-day. So an inevitable Nithya Raman or Karen Bass won’t be a TOTAL disaster if you have John McKinney as L.A. City Attorney.
Official website of John McKinney for L.A. City Attorney:
https://mckinney4la.com/
One of the things I did take away from this debate was that Beccera just does not look worried. Not at all. That concerns me, that concerns me ALOT.
Becerra is a corrupt dolt. As for SEIU, the SEIU leaders own the democrats. Talk about the oligarchy. SEIU is it
and the teachers’ unions, too.
NEVER FORGET:
State king-makers SEIU and the teachers unions had no problem endorsing Tom Steyer and Eric Swallwell in the primaries. They both. Voters rejected Steyer at the ballot box.
Swalwell was forced to withdraw in total disgrace over his sordid past, now finally revealed. There was no Mother Nancy Pelosi running interference for teacher union and SEIU top pick for governor – Eric Swalwell, a truly vile human being.
Fine piece of candidate vetting, King Maker Democrats, SEIU and state teachers unions.
Your recommendations are worth as much as a Hunter Biden Slapcoin. ZERO. You showed you have nothing but contempt this state, its ethical governance, its residents. You only love our state tax dollars, that you want to keep spending only on yourselves.
No Sale Becerra. No sale up and down the entire Democrat food chain. Becerra bombed last night in the debate. No wonder he tried to hide.
Who played it better:
1. My father was a mailman. And now I am running for President
2. My father somehow came to California with only $14. And now I am the default candidate for governor.
The crude terminology is unnecessary. Lowers the quality of discourse.
Voters should be appalled by the fact that there were 479,000 unaccompanied illegal migrant children who went missing many of whom placed with human traffickers after vetting systems while Xavier Becerra was the head of HHS during the Biden regime. The fact that he brushed the question aside and tried to deflect instead of taking responsibility shows that he’s a very evil man with no morals who is not fit to be governor or in any political office.
“deflecting instead to his immigrant parents who arrived in the U.S. with $12”
Worse that that, it was Becerra’s reason why we can’t cut taxes. He implied his immigrant parents with only $12 lived off the backs of taxpayers as leaches instead of being self supporting.
Beccera is running the same campaign as Joe Biden did: Hide in the basement, yell “Trump, Trump, Trump”, and then let the low information, illogical, emotional Democrat voters carry him into office, followed by increasingly bad fraud, waste, and abuse.
I would like to see another debate with neutral moderators. But Becerra is probably very afraid of that.
I’m fearful that no one is listening. I’m fearful of the state’s maneuvering into an all powerful ‘one-stop shop’ for nearly everything. The state has suffered fiscal losses beyond comprehension under Newsom and his ‘yes man’ Becerra. I’m fearful that the economic I.Q. of California voters is at an all-time low. Particularly with the sound-bite political poison spewed by the anti-American democrats, their big money backers and the mainstream media bias.
I’m sick of all this thieving, conniving and corruption California has endured during the Newsom regime.
Sadly, the majority of voters in this state are brainwashed and Becerra will be the next governor by default, nothing will change, and the state will continue to slide into an unaffordable hell hole. Meanwhile, the same people who will dutifully mark their ballots for Becerra and every other person with a (D) next to their name will continue to blame the nonexistent Republicans in the state for the very same problems that the people they vote in to power election after election have created.
As a McGovern Democrat who is more concerneed with policy vs Party, “Conservatives” of whatever stripe need to stop crying about how someone like Hilton is treated. In a state that is what , Democrat Registration 3 to 1 over Republicans, Hilton needs to step up his game and attract Democrats with common sense solutions that he has in some case proposed but he’s not breaking through at least in Southern Cal. All you had to do is read the Arrelano comment in the LA Times about the debate to see that the two sides heard very different debates. If Hilton wants to win he needs to go and grab Democrats by the short hairs in a more effective way that so far. Im sorry to say.
M. Wood, that used to work. Democrats would cross party lines when things got really bad. They don’t anymore. Democrats act like they have been hypnotized. All Democrat politicians have to do is say key words like Trump, MAGA, or Fox News, and they go into a hypnotic state.
Spencer Pratt tried the “let’s talk some sense into these people” in his race for Mayor of Los Angeles. Look who is in the lead? A Socialist. Democrats have lost their minds. The lights are on but no one is home. They are hypnotized.