H- how you gonna do that?

Yeah, it's a fair point.

Look, I, I understand.

Look, I understand politics.

I know that, you know, um... you know, I'll just point out that, well, I'm trying to focus, um, as much as I can on my plans to help people.

Your first 150 grand, tax-free, no state income tax, $3 gas, vehicle registration for your car or your truck capped at 73 bucks per year.

These are the practical things I wanna get done.

Tell me about the numbers as you believe them to be at this moment.

Yeah, yeah.

Fantastic.

Oh, it reminded me of r- of my roots, actually, because, um, I can't remember if we talked about this last time.

Obviously, people can hear from my accent I'm originally from the UK, but my parents are Hungarian, and so they, they were refugees from communism.

I grew up in a regular working-class home in England.

But there's a school in England called Christ's Hospital-

Mm-hmm

... which is a boarding school where disadvantaged kids or kids on low incomes get full scholarships and get a fantastic education that is the equivalent of the best that money can buy.

Right.

But the idea that, that...

No, we got to work very hard, and people have to vote, and they have to get everyone else to vote.

It's not enough to send in your vote.

You have to persuade family members, friends, co- coworkers, those who may be sitting on the sidelines.

The majority of Californians, as you, as you say, who want change, well, you got to show up and vote for it.

In other words, it's not done one way or the other.

What, what happened there?

You'd throw that in with the Department of Transportation?

No. Um, I...

And energy.

I mean, the, the...

It would make sense to have a department that runs the energy system.

A lot of these things g- in other g- This is not how other places do it, where electric costs are much lower and you have a much better environmental performance, including European countries and other states.

In so many areas, we've ended up with this bloated bureaucracy that costs a fortune and delivers bad results.

Meg Whitman was the last competitive Republican candidate for governor.

Yes, we are

...

in California.

We're on the road the whole time.

As you know, we've been, been the most energetic campaign anyone's ever seen.

Been to all 58 counties, most of them many times.

We've done hundreds of events.

Yep, got mine yesterday in the mail.

So what gets cut to make up for that?

Well, that, that number i- that, i- i- in, in our, um The e- estimate of the cost includes the two parts of my tax plan.

The first is, as you mentioned, eliminating state income tax for the first $150,000 of income, and the second component of the tax plan is, uh, above that, a flat tax of 8%.

And the combination of those things, I, I, I see it as pro-worker and pro-growth, because one of the problems in California is that we're driving out businesses and investment.

It's one of the reasons we have the highest unemployment rate of all 50 states, as well as the highest poverty rate.

But these are things that need to be done in sequence.

The priority is the working class tax cut, the first $150,000 of state income.

Do the wealthy need a tax cut?

You'd throw that in with the Department of Transportation?

No. Um, I, uh, energy.

I mean, the, the, it would make sense to have a department that runs the energy system.

A lot of these things g- in other g- this is not how other places do it, where electric costs are much lower and you have a much better environmental performance, including European countries and other states.

In so many areas, we've ended up with this bloated bureaucracy that costs a fortune and delivers bad results.

We're not getting value for money, and so we need a complete rethink.

Look, Governor Schwarzenegger tried to do this.

Meg Whitman was the last competitive Republican candidate for governor.

So what gets cut to make up for that?

Well, that number in our estimate of the cost includes the two parts of my tax plan.

The first is, as you mentioned, eliminating state income tax for the first $150,000 of income.

And the second component of the tax plan is, above that, a flat tax of 8%.

And the combination of those things, I see it as pro-worker tax.

and pro-growth, because one of the problems in California is that we're driving out businesses and investment.

It's one of the reasons we have the highest unemployment rate of all 50 states, as well as the highest poverty rate.

So how would those things get funded?

Absurdity

... or no one knows any of this.

It's like, why is everything so expensive and takes so long? It's 'cause of all this, that it's so complicated.

No one gets in the details.

So I want to tell you about a conversation.

I went to see a legislator who they said, "This person's very good o- on the housing policy." And I said, "We gotta get rid of this, this, um, private right of action where you get all these unions filing these lawsuits to block housing, 'cause it's just destroying our opportunity to build and, and housing." And sh- and she said, "I totally agree.

It would be transformational." That's the word she used, transformational.

Oh, my God.

What does that mean? Well, get rid of red

tape.

He's an idiot.

And that's not my word.

That's the word of everyone who's worked with him, who is a Democrat.

So I made that point last night.

Every single person who's worked with him in California or in the federal government, remember, this guy's a 36-year career politician, never done a real job in his life.

Would you please tell our listeners why it's so important that you're elected governor if you're going to save the great state of California?

How do you think they would assess Becerra's performance last night?

Oh, they would have been...

I mean, I know, to be honest, I've heard from a couple of them.

And they are...

Well, they're just, they can't believe that their party has ended up with this guy.

Of all the people, you know, the most, I mean, no one's got a good word for him.

No one.

What are you going to do if there's the big one? What are you going to do if there's a massive earthquake on the San Andreas Fault, or God forbid we have some kind of natural disaster where you need competent leadership to make sure you and your family don't die, and you have an empty suit that's calling the shots in Sacramento? What we'd end up with is a Kathleen Blanco in Louisiana when Hurricane Katrina hit, and her incompetence had real-world consequences for that cause people to lose their property, their lives, and everything.

What does that mean? Well, get rid of red

tape.

He's an idiot.

And that's not my word.

That's the word of everyone who's worked with him, who is a Democrat.

So I made that point last night.

Every single person who's worked with him in California or in the federal government.

Would you please tell our listeners why it's so important that you're elected governor if you're going to save the great state of California?

... what would you do to cut into that? Tell people.

I wanna just be really clear about why we have this $2 increase compared to the rest of the country, what's driving it, and what I can change as governor.

There are four reasons that, that...

Let's just think about the $2 and how it breaks down.

There are four things going on.

The first is the gas tax, right, which they just increased from 61.2 cents a gallon to 63.4. That's the first thing.

I actually can't, on my own, do anything about that.

Mm.

Take it from the top and give us your impressions of that debate last night.

Well, it's just very clear that Becerra has literally nothing to offer of any substance or practicality to help Californians clean up the mess that they've made, the Democrats have made.

Becerra and his friends have given us the highest cost of living in the country, the highest poverty rate, highest unemployment rate, housing costs.

Gas prices, everything, crime, chaos, homelessness.

It's all a disaster.

He's got nothing to offer.

And you saw the only thing he can say is to blame it all on Donald Trump, which, of course, is ridiculous.

I was just going to ask you, tell us what you think of AI or superintelligence, I guess I should say, and also data centers for California, which a lot of talk about how they pump up the economy in many places.

[laughs]

And they are...

Well, they, they, they're just...

They can't believe that their party has ended up with this guy, of all the people.

You know, the, the most...

I mean, no one's got a good word for him.

No one.

... people to lose their property, their lives, and everything.

[laughs]

And they are...

Well, they, they, they're just...

They can't believe that their party has ended up with this guy, of all the people.

You know, the, the most...

I mean, no one's got a good word for him.

No one.

... people to lose their property, their lives, and everything.

How many billions were lost? I was, I watched the 60 Minutes, uh, piece about, uh, two weeks ago, three weeks ago, and it was h- it was unbelievable that we don't have a high-speed, uh, uh, train in America, a- and the Chinese have been building them forever.

I know.

They've built something like 20,000 miles, and we've built nothing.

I mean, even Spain, um, uh, has built, like, 8,000 miles, and I think Morocco's built 200.

We've built nothing in the s- in the period since they've been trying to get high-speed rail.

Now remember, they promised that it would be finished by 2020 and cost $30 billion.

The latest is that it's gonna be finished by 2040, if you're lucky, and cost $230 billion.

Would you please tell our listeners why it's so important that you're elected governor if you're gonna save the great state of California?

Would you please tell our listeners why it's so important that you're elected governor if you're gonna save the great state of California?

California?Well, we can't let the...

You know, we're the, we're the biggest economy, the richest state in the, the most wonderful nation on earth, and we just can't let California go down.

It d- too much depends on it, and that's actually represents something important about our country.

I often say California means to America what America means to the world.

Think about everything we, we, we represent at our best, innovation and energy and optimism and dynamism and hustle, and the sort of rebel spirit of, of, of, that we saw, you know, with, with so many great leaders that have come out of California on, on, on, um, our side of the argument, like, of, of course, President Reagan.

And I just think that we've got to really, uh, save this state before it's too late.

Check, check it out.

What does that mean? Well, get rid of red

tape.

He's an idiot, and that's not my word.

That's the word of everyone who's worked with him, who is a Democrat.

So I made that point last night.

Every single person who's worked with him in California or in the federal government, remember, this guy's a 36-year career politician, never done a real job in his life.

Everyone who's worked with him says he's an idiot, and that word, idiot, is what Susan Rice described him as.

Would you please tell our listeners why it's so important that you're elected governor if you're going to save the great state of California?

Can these companies be trusted to police themselves?

Well, I think this AI question is actually a different one for California than the rest of the country because these companies are based here.

And because of the fact that so many businesses have been driven out of the state, our finances are really dependent on these companies.

And the problem is that the jobs associated with AI, the high-end manufacturing and infrastructure, that's all going to other states like Texas.

and Arizona.

And the first priority with this industry is to make sure we get all those jobs here in California.

The second thing that's very important, I think we can all agree on, is that this is the least complicated part.

Do you think California has a crooked election system with fake

So why has that not changed if all these things are going the wrong way, in your opinion?

Yeah, it's a, it's a great question.

It's the central question, and there's a number of things that I would, um, uh, say in response to that.

First of all, uh, in the twenty years now since a Republican's been elected, sixteen years of complete one-party rule, where the Democrats control every statewide elected office, both chambers of the legislature with a two-thirds majority, impregnable to any kind of Republican, um, input.

Uh, every major city, every major county, the state supreme court with a six-one Democrat-appointed majority.

Um, all of those years have enabled them to build up w-- through corrupt means, um, in the sense that it's funded through their donors, mainly the government unions, a formidable political machine that just uses every trick in the book, which they've legalized, to entrench their power.

Um, and you-- we've been documenting this through, uh, this campaign.

People would love that, but how can you do that as governor?

Walk down what that is, because it felt to me, Steve, if I can be honest, it felt like you wanted to create another department to take a look at inefficiencies.

no that's not what we're going to do um what we're going to do generally there's a massive problem as we know with in in california with the insane level of bloat and bureaucracy in our government it's one of the reasons that the business climate is such a disaster i'm a business owner most of my career has been in business and we're losing jobs constantly to other states that are more hospitable and it drives up the cost of everything this insane bloated nanny state bureaucracy So there's a really big, big argument at the heart of my campaign, which is reducing the size of the state government, the budget, which has doubled in the last 10 years.

So we can cut taxes, lower tax, cheaper gas is really the heart of my campaign.

And that is the centerpiece of that is the what I call the working class tax cut your first hundred and fifty grand tax.

Tax-free.

No state income tax.

That'll put thousands of dollars into the pockets of millions of Californians really quickly.

Where does that 10% come from? Is that just 10% from every department across the board, or is it, in other words, sledgehammer or a scalpel? And who could be on the chopping

Mm-hmm.

So the steps in getting that down, number one, is stop the insane, uh, situation right now where even though we have abundant oil reserves in California, I was in Bakersfield today, the heart of our oil industry, we're now importing nearly 80% of what we use, shipping it halfway across the world from countries like Iraq, actually increasing carbon emissions.

So we can re- change that policy and that'll bring costs down.

There are some regulations on refining that are very out of date.

That can bring the cost down.

But the big one are the hidden taxes on, um, gas prices in California, up to $1.40 from policies, for example, that fund high-speed rail, which is really not something that we should continue with.

So a combination of reforms can get those prices down.

But wouldn't that mean that Silicon Valley billionaires would pay the same income tax as middle income families? Would that be fair to you?

How are you?

Thank you, Sean.

Great to be with you.

You're, you're so right.

We, we got the power to do this.

There's enough people in this state who are sick of the insanity, the cost, the highest gas prices, the taxes, the highest taxes for the worst results.

We're being ripped off, and people are sick of it, and we can do it.

Vote as if your life is dependent on the election, 'cause it is.

True.

That's what this depends on, and that's why I'm fighting such a high energy campaign, because we have to believe that we can actually do this.

And if we get a big Republican turn out, this is the number I always point to.

We th- we think, our estimate is that the number of votes that I will need, votes, not percent, number of votes to win, is around 6 million votes.

In 2024, President Trump, in California, without even campaigning here, got 6.1 million votes.

In other words, if every Rep- if everyone who voted-

Amen.

Lower tax, cheaper gas, cut the cost of doing b- all these common sense thing, clean up the streets, get people off the streets and into drug rehab instead of shoveling cash into the failed programs.