Former Biden Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra was repeatedly forced to defend his record during this week’s California gubernatorial debate, as both his Democratic and Republican opponents hammered him over a migrant children controversy, a corruption case involving his former chief of staff and allegations of mismanagement during his tenure as HHS secretary.
The attacks came during a contentious CNN primary debate that featured five Democrats and two Republicans vying to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom, with Becerra emerging as a frequent target as candidates challenged his claims of competent leadership.
Becerra, who has served in various elected positions for decades, touted his federal experience as a top qualification for California governor, rejected the attacks as false or politically motivated, at one point calling criticism of his HHS record a “MAGA talking point” and later dismissed the migrant children controversy as “Trump lies,” even as Democratic opponent Antonio Villaraigosa pushed back that the issue stemmed from a Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times investigation.
“The experience we hear from Secretary Becerra didn’t lead to better outcomes,” San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, also a Democrat running against Becerra, said early in the debate. “It led to 85,000 migrant children who were lost. More fraud in our health care system.”
Becerra and his allies have denied the characterization that migrant children were “lost,” a controversy that dogged the HHS Secretary during much of his time in the Biden administration.
The controversy stemmed from the Biden administration’s handling of a massive surge of unaccompanied migrant children, when officials faced pressure to move minors out of overcrowded government shelters and into the custody of adult sponsors.
A New York Times investigation published in February 2023 reported that the administration relaxed some longstanding safeguards as it sought to move children more quickly, including certain background checks and file reviews meant to protect minors from exploitation.
“If Henry Ford had seen this in his plants, he would have never become famous and rich. This is not the way you do an assembly line,” Becerra told HHS staff, according to the Times, even as HHS was beginning to peel back longstanding protections that had been in place for years.
The comment came after nearly a dozen officials within the HHS division responsible for unaccompanied migrant children raised concerns that labor trafficking was increasing and warned the system was “one that rewards individuals for making quick releases, and not one that rewards individuals for preventing unsafe releases,” according to the Times.
Meanwhile, Becerra pushed back during the debate regarding the unaccompanied minor crisis he faced, calling Mahan’s criticism “totally untrue” and saying it sounded like “a MAGA talking point.”
“Under my watch, more Americans gained health coverage than ever in the history of the country,” Becerra said, arguing that his tenure expanded Obamacare coverage and lowered premiums for millions of Americans.
Mahan later challenged Becerra’s claims about his record, accusing him of presiding over higher healthcare costs, worse outcomes and “fraudulent and wasteful spending” as both California attorney general and HHS secretary.
During another portion of the debate, Republican candidate Steve Hilton, a former Fox News host, also accused Becerra of being “mired personally in a corruption scandal” involving his former chief of staff, Sean McCluskie, and campaign funds allegedly used to supplement McCluskie’s salary after Becerra joined the Biden administration.
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“My view is that it’s a bit rich for Xavier to talk about following the law when he is mired personally in a corruption scandal,” Hilton said, alleging Becerra’s campaign account was used to supplement McCluskie’s salary after Becerra was tapped to serve as Biden’s health secretary. Earlier in the debate, Becerra had chided GOP candidate Sheriff Chad Bianco for violating the law while attempting to investigate election security concerns.
Villaraigosa also slammed Becerra on the alleged corruption scandal, saying Becerra “may not be indicted at this point,” but arguing the situation “doesn’t pass the smell test.”
Hilton announced during the debate that his running mate for Attorney General of California, Michael Gates, had already sent Becerra a letter indicating that if they win he will be investigated and, if necessary, prosecuted over the matter.
Becerra denied wrongdoing, telling Hilton to “read the indictment” and saying, “I was not involved.”
“If I had been involved, the U.S. attorney would’ve had me in that indictment,” Becerra added.
Tuesday night’s debate underscored how Becerra’s long record in public office may be both his biggest selling point and his biggest liability, as rivals from both parties sought to turn his time in Sacramento and Washington into an argument against elevating him to California’s highest office.
Becerra, however, urged voters to judge him by what he says he accomplished in office, not by attacks from rivals seeking the governorship.
“If you want to judge me, judge me on the things that I’ve done,” Becerra said from the debate stage. “I expanded health care to more Americans than anyone in the history of the country. Serving as secretary, I was able to negotiate for the first time ever, lower drug prices.”
