California governor hopeful and longtime billionaire Democrat Tom Steyer was spotted with a strange, secret note on his hand during Tuesday night’s debate to replace outgoing Gov. Gavin Newsom — and what it contained has quickly set the internet on fire.
Why it was hidden under his suit?
Cameras spotted Steyer with a mysterious tic-tac-toe-like symbol on his left hand as he sparred with Democratic rivals on the debate stage.
Billionaire California gov. candidate Tom Steyer reveals bizarre hand scrawls at debate https://t.co/eBJVWk2fcW pic.twitter.com/r0uA2guNqy
— New York Post (@nypost) April 29, 2026
Fellow Democrats were perplexed by the cryptic note.
“He wears the same tie and makes that pattern on his hand every day, don’t ask me why,” Kevin Sabellico, a deputy campaign manager for fellow candidate Antonio Villaraigosa, wrote on X.
Could symbol be a Jerusalem Cross? The medieval Christian symbol originated with the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem as early as the 11th century.
It gained prominence after the First Crusade, when European Christians captured Jerusalem from Arabic colonizers. The design is associated with Jesus Christ and the four Gospels, the wounds of Christ, or the four corners of the world, according to varying interpretations.
While Steyer’s team did not elaborate as to what the ink note meant during Tuesday’s debate, Steyer told Buzzfeed in 2019 that “for awhile now,” he has scrawled the cross on his hand every day to “remind myself to always tell the truth.”
“I later discovered that it has traditionally been known as a Jerusalem cross,” Steyer explained at the time.
“It means to tell the truth no matter what the cost is,” Steyer added.
Tom Steyer spoke about the symbol on his arm in an interview with the now defunct BuzzFeed News back in 2019:
“It means to tell the truth no matter what the cost is. For a while now, I have drawn it on my hand every day to remind myself to always tell the truth. I later… https://t.co/twSVZF6ohf pic.twitter.com/wXYolkxZIF
— Politics & Poll Tracker 📡 (@PollTracker2024) April 20, 2026
Steyer has spent more than $100 million of his own fortune on his bid to succeed Newsom, and many polls showing him near the top of the Democratic primary race.
Other leading candidates are former Health and Human Services secretary Xavier Becerra and ex-Fox News host Steve Hilton.