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Steve Hilton Levels Gavin Newsom for Nearly $500B in Fraud Uncovered in CA As Newsom Only Looks to 2028

Dmitri Bolt
Dmitri Bolt  |  March 16, 2026 3:30 PM

California Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton blasted Governor Gavin Newsom for parading around the country preparing for his 2028 presidential run, while his state continues to be plagued by fraud, some of which has been uncovered by Hilton's campaign team. And "some" is a generous term, as it totals nearly $500 billion. 

Hilton claimed that California likely has more fraud than all other states combined and accused Newsom of using the state as a stepping stone to the presidency despite his atrocious policy record.

"It's just like Gavin Newsom, you know, he fixed the homelessness problem many years ago. He kept announcing that he's fixed it while the problem gets worse," Hilton said. "I mean, this guy's a total disgrace, Gavin Newsom. If it's been fixed, then why is the money still going out? He says it was fixed in 2021. Those payments were from 2024. He's just lying and gaslighting, as he is on every single issue." 

"And the truth is that California has got more fraud than the rest of America put together," he added. "And Dr. Oz is absolutely right. We need cooperation with the federal government. When I'm governor, that's what we'll get."

Hilton went on:

In the meantime we're trying to find it as well. My organization, CalDOGE, part of my campaign, we estimate now that the total fraud in the last five years in California, $434 billion. And what are they doing about it? Nothing, because they have total contempt for taxpayers. They don't consider it, that it's our money that they're stealing and wasting. And that is why they're going to lose this year.

Hilton is currently leading in early polling for the Golden State's governor's race as a plethora of Democrats have crowded the field, and rumors swirl about the Democrats' front-runner, Eric Swalwell, who may not even be a resident of California.

This comes as story after story has surfaced from California detailing widespread fraud, including allegations that Newsom’s own wife funneled nearly $4 million to herself from her charity.