Former top Biden official ripped over scandal-plagued past during fiery debate: 'More fraud'
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...
By Fox News · Fox News
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." EX-BIDEN OFFICIAL'S CAMPAIGN FACES HEAT AS MISSING CHILDREN SCANDAL RESURFACES: 'VOTERS DESERVE BETTER' 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 administrat…