Steve Hilton is hitting Xavier Becerra with a Spanish-language ad using AI to paint him as an extremist on transgender athletes.
The California gubernatorial hopeful, 55, rolled out the spot last week aimed squarely at Latino voters, a bloc that makes up roughly one-third of the state’s electorate. Hilton told The Post he has spent months hearing from Hispanic parents desperate for pushback against school policies they see as fringe ideology.
“I felt it was important to make clear to Latino families that what they’re seeing in their kids’ schools is not some natural disaster that is impossible to prevent,” he said. “It is the direct result of Democrat politicians actions – Becerra supports all this extremism and would make it worse.”
The ad opens on a youth soccer match in East Los Angeles, where a father watches his daughter’s team take the field. A coach tells his squad to “Give it everything you’ve got.” When the father asks about a new player — a hulking figure with long hair and a mustache — the coach replies: “A new starter; she came out as a girl last week.”
The figure proceeds to barrel through the girls, sending three flying and leaving one crumpled on the turf clutching her leg. The horrified father demands: “Who allowed this?”
An AI-generated Becerra then materializes on the field, grinning.
“That was me. I fought for boys to play in girls’ sports, and I will continue to do so as governor,” the deepfake figure declares.
When the father protests “But they’re getting hurt,” the synthetic Becerra offers only: “I’m sorry.” The spot ends with the dad screaming skyward in frustration.
Becerra, 66, has built a decades-long record on LGBTQ+ rights that the Hilton campaign is now weaponizing. As a congressman in 1996, he was one of just 67 House members to vote against the Defense of Marriage Act. More recently, he backed California’s 2013 AB1266 law allowing students to join sex-segregated programs based on gender identity, and as Biden’s Health Secretary, he supported interpreting Title IX to cover gender identity protections.
He has argued against state bans blocking transgender kids from school athletics and gender-affirming care. In a summer interview supporting trans high school track athlete AB Hernandez, Becerra stated:
“Trans people are people, and as governor I will use every power of that office to protect their rights. I’ve been on the right side of these fights long before it was popular — in 1996, I was one of only 67 in Congress to stand up against the Defense of Marriage Act. I’ll always choose the right side of history over the easy side.”
The 16-year-old Hernandez has become a flashpoint in the national debate, dominating high jump, long jump and triple jump at this year’s CIF State Track and Field Championships in the Jurupa Unified School District. The victories sparked sustained outrage from parents and conservative groups.
Last month, Concerned Women for America released an analysis claiming transgender athletes have taken nearly 2,300 medals and over $500,000 in prize money from women and girls since the mid-1980s, drawing from volunteer-run database HeCheated.org. The group counted 14,301-plus female sporting events where athletes born male had competed.
Hilton has made Latino outreach a centerpiece of his underdog bid. “Everywhere I go in California, I hear incredibly strong concerns from Latino parents about what’s going on in our schools,” he told The Post. “They’re desperate for someone to help them push back against what they see as crazy, fringe ideologies that go against their deepest beliefs and values.”
He added that sports and locker rooms rank among the biggest worries, with parents wanting “a level playing field.” He also seized on education outcomes, noting: “Nearly two thirds of Latino students in California do not meet basic standards for literacy. Why aren’t the politicians focusing on that?”
Becerra’s stance on sports access has drawn fire from other corners too. Early in the governor’s race last November, he told reporters: “There’s nothing in the Constitution that says that you are entitled to play a sport,” He continued: “I’m not interested as governor in having someone be bullied or someone discriminated because of who they are, simply for that reason. And if the rules allow an individual to play in that sport, those are the rules and you should abide by them.”
US attorney Bill Essayli, who has fought on Title IX cases, backed Hilton’s framing. “California’s policies have been to ignore woman, girls and parents’ rights in favor of a radical political ideology,” he told The Post. “There have been actions at California schools that allow children to transition to other genders when their parents are not aware. That is illegal,” He added: “No-one is saying trans girls can’t compete; but they should compete with those who share their biology. They shouldn’t get to deprive girls of their chance for trophies or for scholarships to suit your political cause.”
Polling shows Becerra holding a significant but narrowing lead. A UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies survey released Sept. 24 put him up 25 points, expanding his 18-point August advantage. But a Hilton campaign-commissioned poll by David Wolfson conducted Oct. 1-2 found the margin much tighter: Becerra at 45.7% to Hilton’s 40.1%, with 14.1% undecided among 1,020 California voters surveyed.
Becerra’s office has been contacted for comment.