Corruption in Newsom’s California is Worse than Tim Walz’s Minnesota: Steve Hilton [WATCH]

Steve Hilton shared an account from the campaign trail to illustrate what he described as deep, systemic problems inside California’s welfare system.

The story involved a hotel owner near Sacramento and a new employee from Afghanistan whose situation, Hilton said, exposes the scale of benefits and the incentives built into the state’s programs.

Hilton said, “Here’s a story just from the campaign trail. A few weeks ago, I met a guy who owns a hotel, an Airport Hotel, near Sacramento, the seat of California’s government, and he he had a new employee to drive the shuttle bus to the airport from Afghanistan, an immigrant from Afghanistan.”

Hilton said the employee made an unusual request after being hired.

“After two days, this person said to the the owner of the hotel, could he please be paid in cash? And and the person I was talking said, Well, no, we don’t do it like that. You’re on payroll. Why do you want to be paid in cash? Well, I’m worried that I’ll lose all my welfare benefits,” he said.

Hilton said the employee then revealed the value of those benefits.

“Really. How much are they? Here’s the number, $7,000 a month. $7,000 a month. So even with, you know, Tim Walt’s level accounting skills, we can figure out that’s $84,000 a year,” he said.

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Hilton contrasted that figure with other public numbers, adding, “In that post you mentioned from the president, he talked about 50,000 This is Sacramento County, $84,000 a year.”

Hilton said the hotel owner learned even more about the support the employee received.

“On top of that, he dug into it. This person from Afghanistan was told by social services in Sacramento, by Sacramento County, and don’t worry, we going to deliver groceries to to your house, because you shouldn’t go shopping because Americans are racist, and it’s safer for you to stay at home and we’ll deliver your groceries,” he said.

Hilton reacted to the situation by asking, “I mean, what are we doing in this country? What are we doing?”

Hilton said the situation reflects broader issues inside the state.

“And the point that I’m making today is that just as with everything else, whatever we’re seeing in Minnesota, you can be sure it’s much worse. In California, we’ve had longer period of uninterrupted one party rule, and we have a budget of over 320 $5 billion,” he said.

He pointed to documented cases of waste and fraud.

“We already know that over $20 billion was lost to fraud in the pandemic with what they call the EDD, the Employment Development Department, payments sent out to people in jail, people on death Row, people who had died $20 billion we know that that’s already gone. That’s just one part of the welfare state in California,” Hilton said.

Hilton also highlighted spending on homelessness.

“We know that over 20 billion was wasted on homelessness. Who knows where that ended up? I think the probable number in California is up to $100 billion that’s an estimate,” he said.

Hilton concluded by calling for an investigation into the state’s programs.

“What I’m calling for today is a thorough audit of every single part of California’s bloated welfare state to root out the fraud and corruption,” he said.

WATCH:

Gubernatorial Candidate Steve Hilton says Minnesota’s fraud is NOTHING compared to California.

He exposes an Afghan shuttle driver in Sacramento who insisted on being paid cash so he wouldn’t lose his $7,000-a-month welfare haul. $84,000 a year.

Social Services even told him… pic.twitter.com/acOBrz2a73

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) December 1, 2025