Steve Hilton wanted to connect with California voters. Instead, he sparked a cultural skirmish over the definition of a street taco.
The British political strategist and Republican gubernatorial candidate posted a weekend video from a Del Taco location in Barstow, holding a hard-shell taco and calling it a "Barstow street taco." The clip was meant to highlight a campaign stop. It became a punching bag within hours.
Gustavo Arellano, the Los Angeles Times columnist and author of a book on Mexican food history in the United States, led the charge. "The first Del Taco was in Yermo, and that's DEFINITELY not a 'street' taco," he wrote on social media. Others called Hilton's misidentification "instantly disqualifying."
The backlash stung in a state where tacos hold near-sacred status in the food culture. Street tacos are traditionally made with two soft corn tortillas, not the hard shell Hilton was holding.
Hilton pushed back swiftly. He noted that the restaurant itself branded the item as a "Barstow street taco" and that his running mate, lieutenant governor candidate Gloria Romero, had taken him there. She had worked at the location as a teenager. "Not everything in life has to be turned into a political argument!!" he tweeted.
The details mattered less than the optics. Commenters dug deeper and found that the menu actually listed it simply as a "Barstow taco," not a street taco at all. The distinction, trivial to outsiders, felt significant to Californians.
Hilton has positioned himself as a Trump-endorsed alternative in a race where voter engagement has been sluggish. The former adviser to David Cameron has pitched himself as a tax-cutting reformer who can break what he calls the Democratic Party's stranglehold on the state. His campaign messaging emphasizes affordability and ending what he views as failed governance under one-party rule.
The taco slip-up, however brief, offered a glimpse at how easily a candidate unfamiliar with local culture and conventions can stumble in the court of public opinion. In a state where tacos are practically a shared language, calling a Del Taco hard shell a street taco was the kind of mistake that sticks.
Author James Rodriguez: "A governor candidate should know better than to fumble California's most beloved food. This was an unforced error that no amount of spin can resurrect."
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