President Trump revealed Wednesday that he may have played a role in helping California Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton advance to the general election.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump said that once it became clear to him that Democrats were trying to steal the election from both Hilton and Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt, he began firing off Truth Social posts and other comments attacking the integrity of the state’s elections. He credited the effort with ensuring Hilton's victory in the primary was quickly solidified as the Republican is now expected to face off against Democrat Xavier Becerra in November.
🚨 HOLY CRAP! President Trump just said California Democrats are "CHEATING LIKE DOGS" after Spencer Pratt's loss
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) June 10, 2026
But then they CALLED it for Steve Hilton to avoid an uproar
"You can't cheat like they did. And look at the election in California as an example. After a week, they… pic.twitter.com/FOJg34DRKP
"You can't cheat like they did," Trump said. "And look at the election in California as an example. After a week, they determined that a kid who's leading and had all the mojo, all of a sudden, he doesn't make the runoff. And then I hit them hard on that."
"But I started talking about Steve Hilton. He's a fantastic guy. And I saw them say it was gonna be two weeks before they knew, and I started hitting them. It's gonna happen to Steve Hilton too. Just watch. You gotta watch. And they approved Steve Hilton very quickly," he continued. "There was too much heat on them. The only reason he got approved, he had all the votes he needed, probably, to be first place, but the only reason they approved Steve Hilton was because it was gonna be two weeks, they said it, and then they approved it that night because the heat was on them, because they're cheating dogs. And you can't have a great country when that happens. That's why Los Angeles, that's why that state, is in such trouble."
This comes as Steve Hilton is set to face former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra in November in what is expected to be a steep uphill battle. Shortly after California’s primary last week, President Trump accused Democrats of “cheating” in the state’s election, as ballot counting was expected to take weeks, and a wave of election integrity concerns cast doubt on the process as a whole.
Hilton's path may receive a boost, however, after he revealed Wednesday that he would be happy to have Spencer Pratt join him on the campaign trail. Others have even floated the idea of Pratt serving in a role within a potential Hilton administration.
Pratt has yet to respond to the offer.