Press Coverage: Villaraigosa: Kamala Harris and Xavier Becerra Complicit in Biden Cover Up
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Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a 2026 candidate for California governor, criticized former Vice President Kamala Harris and former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra on Tuesday as complicit in covering up former President Biden’s cognitive decline while in office.
Villaraigosa said those actions, in part, led to President Trump winning the November election. Becerra, who previously served as California‘s attorney general, is also in the running for governor, and Harris is considering jumping into the race. All three are Democrats.
“At the highest levels of our government, those in power were intentionally complicit or told outright lies in a systematic cover up to keep Joe Biden’s mental decline from the public,” Villaraigosa said in a statement. “Now, we have come to learn this cover up includes two prominent California politicians who served as California Attorney General — one who is running for Governor and another who is thinking about running for Governor. Voters deserve to know the truth, what did Kamala Harris and Xavier Becerra know, when did they know it, and most importantly, why didn’t either of them speak out?”
Villaraigosa based his remarks on excerpts from “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again,” written by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’ Alex Thompson and publicly released Tuesday.
The book, largely relying on anonymous sources, argues that Biden’s confidants and inner circle kept his deteriorating state from the American people, resulting in the Republican victory in the 2024 presidential election.
The book portrays Biden as in decline for as long as a decade, and argues that a circle of political advisors and his family hid his condition from voters.
“Kamala Harris and Xavier Becerra took an oath of office and were entrusted to protect the American people, but instead Kamala Harris repeatedly said there was nothing wrong with Biden and Becerra turned a blind eye,” Villaraigosa said.
“Original Sin” was published shortly after the former president disclosed on Sunday that he had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had spread to his bones.
One example of Biden’s cognitive decline cited by the authors was that he confused Becerra with homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, according to the New York Times.
Asked to respond to Villaraigosa’s attack, Becerra did not address this incident but expressed well wishes for the former president and his family as Biden begins treatment. He also defended his dealings with the former president when he was the nation’s health chief.
“I met with President Biden when needed to make important decisions and to execute with my team at HHS,” Becerra said in a statement. “It’s clear the President was getting older, but he made the mission clear: run the largest health agency in the world, expand care to millions more Americans than ever before, negotiate down the cost of prescription drugs, and pull us out of a world-wide pandemic. And we delivered.”
Attempts to reach a representative for Harris were unsuccessful Tuesday afternoon.
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The Democratic finger-pointing set off by a buzzy new book on former President Joe Biden’s declining fitness during his presidency is now sloshing into the California governor’s race.
Antonio Villaraigosa, the former Los Angeles mayor, tore into two other home state Democrats — former Vice President Kamala Harris and former health Secretary Xavier Becerra — after the Tuesday release of “Original Sin” by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, accusing the two Biden administration officials of being complicit in a “cover up” about the then-president’s mental acuity.
Becerra, like Villaraigosa, is running to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2026, while Harris is actively weighing a gubernatorial bid.
“Voters deserve to know the truth, what did Kamala Harris and Xavier Becerra know, when did they know it, and most importantly, why didn’t either of them speak out?” Villaraigosa said in a statement. “This cover up directly led to a second Donald Trump term — and as a result, all Californians are paying the price.”
The book examines Biden’s health during his four-year term and the lengths taken by the president’s inner circle to bat down any speculation that the octogenarian would not be up to the task of a second term. Harris’s role as his vice president is a recurring subplot in the book as Biden world’s grim assessment of her political capabilities was a major motivator for Biden to run for reelection. Later, the account delves into the uphill climb Harris faced in running a truncated campaign after the president finally opted to step aside last July, weeks after his disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump.
The book does not recount specific incidents where Harris witnessed Biden in a diminished capacity or the vice president expressing concerns about his fitness, but it does depict Harris’ forceful public defenses of Biden’s sharpness after that debate, as well as after his shaky interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur.
Becerra makes a more limited cameo in the book, in an anecdote where Biden, at a Cabinet meeting, mixed up the former health secretary with Alejandro Mayorkas, then the homeland security secretary. Tapper and Thompson write that Cabinet meetings with Biden were scripted affairs, quoting three anonymous Cabinet officials who were unnerved by their limited access to the president.
Villaraigosa slammed Harris for repeatedly saying there was nothing wrong with the president and accused Becerra of “turning a blind eye.”
“Those who were complicit in the cover up should take responsibility for the part they played in this debacle, hold themselves accountable, and apologize to the American people,” he said. “I call on Kamala Harris and Xavier Becerra to do just that – and make themselves available to voters and the free press because there’s a lot of questions that need to be answered.”
Becerra, in a statement, said he met with the president “when needed to make important decisions and to execute with my team at HHS.”
“It’s clear the President was getting older, but he made the mission clear: run the largest health agency in the world, expand care to millions more Americans than ever before, negotiate down the cost of prescription drugs, and pull us out of a world-wide pandemic. And we delivered,” he said, adding that he wished the president and his family “godspeed in his treatment journey.”
Biden was diagnosed with an “aggressive” form of prostate cancer, his office announced Sunday.
A spokesperson for Harris did not comment on the book or Villaraigosa’s comments.
In a brief interview, Villaraigosa said he was moved to speak out after feeling “betrayed” by the revelations in the book.
“For people at the highest levels of government to purposely and with intention hide the fact that President Biden was in decline this way, and keep him as our standard bearer, is malfeasance, pure and simple — and maybe worse,” he said.
Villaraigosa, who has lagged in polling behind Harris and other contenders such as former Rep. Katie Porter, has been the most assertive Democrat in the field to challenge the former vice president, who is widely considered the front runner if she jumps into the fray. His pugnacious posture has added a jolt to the otherwise sleepy governor’s race, but it carries some risk as potentially alienating to the Democratic base voters who are likeliest to vote in a primary.
The salvos against Harris were not limited to intra-party spats. Steve Hilton, the GOP television personality also mounting a bid, aimed his ire squarely at Harris in a social media post on Tuesday, alleging that the vice president “totally failed to do her duty. She knew that Biden wasn’t fit, but she went along with it anyway.”
“As far as I’m concerned, it’s not just disgraceful, it is disqualifying,” Hilton said, “How dare she put herself forward for any elected office ever again after behaving like that?”
Harris should expect to get more incoming from Republicans after the revelations in “Original Sin,” said Kevin Spillane, a California-based GOP strategist.
“Republicans will have a lot of fun going after her because she was at the heart of what a lot of people believe — not just Republicans — was one of the biggest scandals in American history, which was the cover-up of President Biden’s decline,” Spillane said.
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California Democratic gubernatorial candidate Antonio Villaraigosa (D) accused former Vice President Harris and former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra of engaging in a “cover-up” of former President Biden’s cognitive decline while in office.
In a lengthy statement released Tuesday, Villaraigosa cited revelations in journalists Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson’s new book “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again.”
“At the highest levels of our government, those in power were intentionally complicit or told outright lies in a systematic cover-up to keep Joe Biden’s mental decline from the public,” said Villaraigosa, a former Los Angeles mayor.
Becerra launched a run for governor last month, and Harris is reportedly mulling a run for the position. Villaraigosa said, “Voters deserve to know the truth.”
“What did Kamala Harris and Xavier Becerra know, when did they know it, and most importantly, why didn’t either of them speak out?” the former mayor said. “This cover-up directly led to a second Donald Trump term — and as a result, all Californians are paying the price.”
The book, published Tuesday, has made news this month after early excerpts revealed new details about the alleged efforts Biden’s inner circle took to shield the public from signs of his cognitive decline during his last year in office.
The book’s release comes after Biden’s personal office announced he has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones.
In a statement to The Hill, Becerra said he met with the former president to “to make important decisions and to execute with my team at HHS.”
“It’s clear the President was getting older, but he made the mission clear: run the largest health agency in the world, expand care to millions more Americans than ever before, negotiate down the cost of prescription drugs, and pull us out of a world-wide pandemic. And we delivered,” the former secretary said.
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Recent disclosures of a "cover-up" by former President Joe Biden's closest advisors about the severity of his mental and physical limitations are now affecting California's 2026 governor's race.
Former Los Angeles Mayor and Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa, 72, could face two Biden Cabinet members in the race — former Vice President Kamala Harris and former Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra — and he accused both of being among those who were "intentionally complicit or told outright lies in a systematic cover up to keep Joe Biden's mental decline from the public."
He was referring to disclosures in a book published Tuesday, "Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again" that alleges that Biden's closest advisors and family members were part of "aggressive efforts to hide his cognitive diminishment."
"Voters deserve to know the truth, what did Kamala Harris and Xavier Becerra know, when did they know it, and most importantly, why didn't either of them speak out?" Villaraigosa said in a statement Tuesday. "This cover up directly led to a second Donald Trump term — and as a result, all Californians are paying the price."
Villaraigosa, who also ran for governor in 2018 but did not advance out of the primary, said both took an oath of office and "were entrusted to protect the American people, but instead Kamala Harris repeatedly said there was nothing wrong with Biden and Becerra turned a blind eye.
"Those who were complicit in the cover up should take responsibility for the part they played in this debacle, hold themselves accountable, and apologize to the American people. I call on Kamala Harris and Xavier Becerra to do just that — and make themselves available to voters and the free press because there's a lot of questions that need to be answered," he said in the statement.
Harris, who said she will decide by the end of summer whether she will run for governor, did not respond to requests for comment.
Becerra, who entered the race in April, said in a statement that "I met with President Biden when needed to make important decisions and to execute with my team at HHS.
"It's clear the President was getting older, but he made the mission clear: run the largest health agency in the world, expand care to millions more Americans than ever before, negotiate down the cost of prescription drugs, and pull us out of a world-wide pandemic. And we delivered."
Becerra wished the Biden family "godspeed in his treatment journey," after Biden's recent announcement that he has an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones.
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