Former Biden Officials Mock Becerra's Rise in California Governor's Race

Former Biden administration officials are anonymously criticizing ex-Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra as he rises in California's gubernatorial race.

Becerra has become a leading Democratic candidate in the state's jungle primary for governor following Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell's exit from the race last month. His ascent has puzzled some of his former colleagues, according to a Politico report.

Six former Biden officials, speaking anonymously about a former colleague, said discussions of Becerra's rise dominate their group chats and conversations, Politico reported Thursday. "It gets the biggest laugh every time we send around a poll," one former official said. That official described a view in the administration that Becerra was ineffective on the COVID response, the migrant health crisis at the border and other issues.

"He ran one of the most consequential agencies in government at the height of the pandemic. But he took a backseat to Dr. Fauci and his team, didn’t visibly lead on implementation and had to go through layers to get to POTUS even as a Cabinet member," the official told Politico.

A second unnamed official called Becerra "absent" from the COVID response. A third described his appointment by President Joe Biden as "an unfortunate choice."

A fourth official said Becerra was "very good at being a politician" but struggled in crisis. "When people noticed he wasn’t cut out for [the Cabinet] was when there was a crisis — it was clear he didn’t know how to handle that," the official said. "He would go to brief the president and was not prepared at all, almost to the point where it was an embarrassment. Biden would pepper him with questions and he would not be able to answer them."

Xochitl Hinojosa, former Biden Justice Department communications director, criticized Becerra on a CNN panel during post-gubernatorial debate coverage this week. "Whoever is going to be governor will have to stand up to Donald Trump. Can I tell you, after working in Joe Biden's administration? I do not trust Xavier Becerra to do that," Hinojosa said. "Because when I saw him in the administration... he was not effective in governing. And I think that a lot of people in the Biden administration are talking about this because they realize that he was not an effective HHS secretary."

Becerra has defenders from the Biden era. Former White House chief of staff Ron Klain, who supports Becerra's bid, told Politico that Becerra "was one of the most effective members of the president’s Cabinet and delivered on the president’s agenda very powerfully and had a record."

Former White House official Neera Tanden defended Becerra against Hinojosa's comments, calling them "bs." "He delivered on Medicare Drug negotiation, $35 insulin and got health care coverage for 14 million more people. We appreciated that he got big things done. And the least favorite cabinet secretary? Well that might have been closer to your old neck of the woods," Tanden told Hinojosa, referring to Biden Attorney General Merrick Garland.

The Becerra campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.