Steve Hilton unleashes new ‘Gladiator’-style campaign video conquering the political machine

Republican California governor candidate Steve Hilton released a new AI-generated campaign video on Friday, depicting a gladiator-style battle against a robot representing the state's political establishment. The ad, which follows a similar viral approach used by former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt, aims to appeal to voters frustrated with the status quo as Hilton trails Democrat Xavier Becerra in polls. Becerra's campaign dismissed the ad as "AI slop.

Steve Hilton unleashes new ‘Gladiator’-style campaign video conquering the political machine See more of our coverage in your search results. Add The California Post on Google https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=nypost.com Republican Steve Hilton unveiled Friday another new artificial intelligence-generated ad for California governor, as he continues drawing inspiration from the viral campaign of former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt https://nypost.com/2026/06/12/us-news/spencer-pratt-drops-defiant-video-promising-evidence-after-los-angeles-mayoral-loss/ . In the one-minute, 40-second ad, soldiers are taking out downtrodden, everyday working class people into a gladiator scene to fight The Machine, a large robot carried over from Hilton’s first AI ad https://nypost.com/2026/07/23/us-news/steve-hilton-battles-gavin-newsom-kamala-harris-in-ai-ad/ on Thursday that represents the state’s political establishment. As the victims are taken out to fight, they plea for help and humorously poke at many of the same criticisms that Californians have had over the state’s cost-of-living crisis https://nypost.com/2026/06/26/us-news/how-much-money-you-need-to-live-comfortably-in-california-metros-2/ . “Please, I just want to be able to afford a tank of gas so I can drive to work and feed my family,” one man pleads. Another woman pleads: “Me and my husband just want to buy a home together.” A king responds, “You can have all the gas you want, but first you must defeat the California machine,” adding “the machine doesn’t give a damn about you or your family.” In the fight scenes, the robot lunges at people and shoots out a circle of flames. “Uh oh, another wildfire,” an aristocrat laughs, referring to the state’s notorious tendency for fires https://nypost.com/2026/07/23/us-news/sacramento-firefighters-battle-raging-blaze-that-tore-through-2-homes/ that break out. Hilton enters the scene, wearing a gladiator-like uniform. Just as the Machine is about to take out a woman, Hilton in the ad rushes in and knocks it out with one blow from his shield. The crowd gasps. “Enough is enough,” Hilton declares. “You shouldn’t have to fight for your life just to fill your tank, keep the lights on, and put a roof over your family’s head… Enough is enough ” The ad ends with the crowd repeating that slogan. Hilton faces an uphill battle trying to beat Democrat Xavier Becerra in the governor’s race, as he trails badly in polls https://nypost.com/2026/07/16/us-news/xavier-becerra-leading-steve-hilton-in-california-governors-race-poll/ . Much of the messaging of his campaigning has been trying to appeal to voters https://nypost.com/2026/07/22/us-news/steve-hilton-courts-anti-trump-voters-with-new-political-ads/ — even Democrats — tired of the status quo. The Becerra campaign has dismissed Hilton’s new AI ads. “Force-feeding voters AI slop didn’t play out well for Spencer, and it won’t work for Steve,“ Jonathan Underland, Becerra’s spokesperson, told The Post.