Becerra on CA's Costs: 'Cost of Living Was Already Big' 'Trump Just Made It Worse', 'Every State's Expensive'

During a portion of an interview on Wednesday’s edition of CNN’s “The Story Is,” California Democratic gubernatorial nominee Xavier Becerra responded to people who say the state is too expensive by saying that “it is expensive, but tell me a state that isn’t. Every state’s expensive.” And “the cost of living was already big. Donald Trump just made it worse.” Becerra did say some regulations need to be eased.

Host Elex Michaelson said that Republican candidate Steve Hilton’s “argument is that the state is going in the wrong direction on homelessness, on high-speed rail, on all sorts of different things. What do you say to folks who feel like the state is too expensive and going in the wrong direction?”

Becerra responded, “Well, first, it is expensive, but tell me a state that isn’t. Every state’s expensive. How much are we paying for gasoline in California? More than anywhere else. But, again, anywhere in California you go, you’re paying about $2 more than you were before Donald Trump started this war in Iran. We’re paying more for our groceries because of the illegal tariffs that Donald Trump is imposing around the world. We’re paying more for our housing because he’s made building materials more expensive. Let’s be honest, the cost of living was already big. Donald Trump just made it worse. Interest rates are up, mortgage rates are up, the inflation is up. Donald Trump said — he was campaigning in 2024, saying he was going to lower costs. He’s done just the opposite.”

Michaelson followed up, “But couldn’t two things be true, that the regulations in California make it more expensive, and the war with Iran makes gas more expensive?”

Becerra answered, “There’s no doubt that, in California, we’re going to trim back some of our regulations, cut some of the red tape, because we don’t have a choice but to make sure that California families can survive here. But it’s not the regulations that brought gasoline to over $6 a gallon. It’s not regulations that brought diesel to close to $9 a gallon in California. That was Trump’s war in Iran. And we’ve got to tackle that.”

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