Social conservatives have been in an uproar following Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton’s ad showing two young women in a dark room suggestively voting for him.
Former Huntington Beach City Attorney and current GOP candidate for attorney general Michael Gates and Chino Valley Unified school board member and GOP candidate for superintendent Sonja Shaw condemned the ad. Shaw called it “creepy, weird, disturbing garbage,” and Gates called it “deeply out of touch with the values and expectations of California families.”
The fight has continued mainly on X, with former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt among those condemning the conservatives who condemned Hilton. “This fake moral panic is why republicans lose. YOU LIVE IN CALIFORNIA. You share a state with the most progressive people in the world. If you don’t speak to them, you will never win. I keep saying…a lot of people want to lose, and Steve Hilton is the ONLY one trying to win.”
Pastor Jack Hibbs of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills was among those on the right who apparently came close to pulling his support from Hilton over the whole thing. The arch-conservative Christian nationalist instead went to Facebook Live and gave his thoughts on the matter Saturday morning.
Condemning the ad as “grotesque” and saying it displays “an issue regarding lesbianism among college girls and some high school girls,” which he called a “pandemic of social ill,” Hibbs confirmed that his initial response to the ad was much more heated.
Hibbs also declared anyone who thought the ad was “fine” to be “sick” and that anyone who thinks sexualization of people is acceptable to get a vote is a “reprobate…the Bible calls you a ‘reprobate.’”
Despite saying by implication that Hilton was “sick” and a “reprobate” for greenlighting and promoting the ad, Hibbs nevertheless declared his support for Hilton, because he wouldn’t trust Xavier Becerra “to clean out my garage.”
And there you have it, a voice of the Christian right reconciling support for a “sick” Republican. Sounds familiar.
All the drama really is a bit much considering the most recent polling found Becerra with the support of 58% of likely voters to 33% for Hilton. Now, that’s why Hilton is going for anything that might get him attention and why he’s spouting insane claims like Becerra as state attorney general enabled “legalized sex with minors.”
Given all of the legitimate problems in the state, it’s telling that Republicans still aren’t taken seriously as a credible alternative.
Oh well.
Sal Rodriguez can be reached at salrodriguez@scng.com