A California gubernatorial candidate just dropped a devastating ad targeting fellow gubernatorial candidate Rep. Eric Swalwell.
Tom Steyer, a billionaire who’s running against Swalwell in the Democratic gubernatorial primary, dropped the ad last Friday.
The ad showed Swalwell living the high life as his constituents despaired.
Watch:
Call me old-fashioned, but you typically need to show up to work to get a promotion. pic.twitter.com/Ol2U8OTO41
— Tom Steyer (@TomSteyer) February 13, 2026
As seen above, the ad depicted Swalwell at the gym and at the pool, bemoaning to the audience, “I should be working right now.”
A narrator, meanwhile, torched Swalwell for not working.
“Eric Swalwell’s job is to vote in Congress,” the narrator said. “In 2025, Eric Swalwell missed 95 votes. That’s more than Rep. Raul Grijalva missed. Rep. Grijalva died in March 2025.”
In fairness, the clips of Swalwell used by Steyer were recorded by Swalwell himself during Congress’s summer recess last year as a means to attack Republicans, whom he blamed for his inactivity:
I should be working right now. But Republicans shut down Congress. So instead, I’m pumping iron at the gym. pic.twitter.com/uNRPah17wh
— Eric Swalwell (@ericswalwell) July 28, 2025
I should be working right now. But Republicans shut down Congress. So instead I’m in a pool. pic.twitter.com/S8f0rIfBEj
— Eric Swalwell (@ericswalwell) July 26, 2025
“I should be working right now. I should be in Congress. I should be voting to lower your costs,” the Democrat congressman said in the second video above. “But, instead, I’m in a pool because Republicans sent everyone home because they don’t want to release the Epstein files.”
“We could be working to lower your costs, make sure healthcare is affordable, and make sure we are restoring the rights of everyone in our community. I should be working right now,” he added.
At the time, the video prompted massive mockery.
Look (*Language warning):
Or you could be out in your community volunteering somewhere and not in a pool. Nice servant leadership there.
— DefiantOutlaw (@DefiantOutlawX) July 26, 2025
Nothing says “connecting to working class” like filming in an in ground pool over looking a lake
— Walton Wisdom 🇺🇸 (@TheWaltonWisdom) July 26, 2025
OMG are you for real. Congress shuts down every single August and everyone knows it. You are sorry ass excuse for a man.
— Real Cynthia Hughes (@realpfp) July 26, 2025
Our public servant in his lakefront home with a pool.
We can barely afford groceries. How fucking tone deaf are these people?— Sassy Southern Blonde (@SassySouthBlond) July 26, 2025
This recess has been on the 2025 House calendar since it was published. The House recesses every year at this time. I didn’t see you lamenting your vacation when Biden was president, you tool.
— Blonde of War (JJ) (@BlondeOfWar) July 26, 2025
Steyer, meanwhile, is now facing backlash of his own from Sen. Ruben Gallego, who previously served as Swalwell’s national campaign chairman during his failed 2020 run for the presidency.
“Tom, while you were sitting in your $30 million house on Jan 6, Eric Swalwell was with me on the floor of the House — fighting to save our Democracy from a mob,” Gallego tweeted after Steyer dropped the ad. “If you want to know why people don’t like Billionaires, it’s crap like this.”
Swalwell announced his gubernatorial run during an appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” in November.
“Our state, this great state, needs a fighter and a protector, someone who will bring prices down, lift wages up,” he told leftist host Jimmy Kimmel. “And we can say that we’re the fourth largest economy in the world, and we are, and I love to brag about that. But what does that mean if you can’t afford to live here?”
“So I’ve been in these fights as a city council member up in Dublin, my hometown, as a prosecutor in Oakland, and taking on the most corrupt president ever in the U.S. Congress. But I’m ready to bring this fight home. So I came here tonight, Jimmy, to tell you and your audience that I’m running to be the next governor of California. I’m excited to do it,” he added.
It’s Official!
Democrat Rep. Eric Swalwell announces on Jimmy Kimmel that he WILL be running for Governor of California.
It’s hard to believe they could actually elect someone WORSE than Gavin Newsom… but here it is. pic.twitter.com/YDV8RKRy8D
— Conservative Brief (@ConservBrief) November 21, 2025
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V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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