Trump claims pressure pushed Steve Hilton into California governor runoff
WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump said on Wednesday, June 10, that his public criticism of California’s election process helped Republican candidate Steve Hilton advance to the state’s gubernatorial runoff.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump argued that pressure from him and his supporters forced election officials to move faster in confirming the results.
The president made the remarks while discussing complaints about slow vote counting and allegations of election irregularities in California’s primary contests.
Trump says that the only reason Steve HIlton advanced in the primary is because he criticized California’s elections: I started hitting them. And they approved Hilton quickly. The only reason he got approved was because the heat was on them. pic.twitter.com/mNbfipNHX8
— Acyn (@Acyn) June 10, 2026
Donald Trump connects Spencer Pratt’s loss to election claims
During the Oval Office exchange, Trump said concerns about California’s vote-counting process intensified after Spencer Pratt appeared to be performing strongly on election night before ultimately missing the runoff.
“After a week, they determined that a kid who’s leading and had all the mojo, all of the sudden he doesn’t make the runoff, and then I hit them hard on that,” Trump said of the former reality TV star.
Trump then turned to Steve Hilton, the former Fox News host who was competing in the California governor’s race.
According to the president, he began publicly raising concerns that Hilton could face a similar outcome.
“I started talking about Steve Hilton, who’s a fantastic guy, and I saw them say it was going to be two weeks before they knew [the results], and I started hitting them,” Trump said. “It’s going to happen to Steve Hilton too.”
The president suggested that his criticism created enough public scrutiny to speed up the certification process.
Donald Trump says officials moved quickly because ‘the heat was on’
Trump went further by claiming that election officials changed course because of the attention he brought to the race.
“The only reason he got approved, he had all the votes he needed, probably to be first place,” Trump said of Hilton. “But the only reason they approved Steve Hilton, it was going to be two weeks, they said. And then they approved it that night because the heat was on them because they’re cheating dogs.”
He added, “And you can’t have a great country when that happens.”
Trump did not provide evidence for the claim that officials altered their timeline because of his public comments, but he repeatedly returned to the idea that outside pressure influenced the process.
Steve Hilton advances to runoff against Xavier Becerra
Hilton, who previously worked as a Fox News commentator, officially advanced to the November general election after securing nearly 25% of the vote in Tuesday’s primary, according to the Associated Press.
He will face Democrat Xavier Becerra in the November 3 runoff.
After the result was confirmed, Hilton issued a statement thanking voters and framing the election as a referendum on the direction of California.
“What an incredible honor to be chosen by Californians to lead the movement for change in the greatest state in the greatest nation on earth. There’s nowhere better than California,” Hilton said.
He also argued that many voters believe the state is heading in the wrong direction and criticized Becerra’s long career in politics.
“After 36 years in the political machine, his policies gave California the highest poverty rate, the highest unemployment rate, and the highest cost of living in America. Now he promises ‘no change’ to those policies,” Hilton said.
