{"id":426028,"date":"2026-08-07T03:00:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T03:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/426028\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T03:00:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T03:00:15","slug":"xavier-becerra-ducks-media-as-campaign-for-california-governor-tries-to-run-out-the-clock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/426028\/","title":{"rendered":"Xavier Becerra ducks media as campaign for California governor tries to run out the clock"},"content":{"rendered":"

Xavier Becerra is running \u2014 for California governor and away from the press<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Democratic frontrunner has gone nearly two months without making himself available for media questions, an unusual strategy that critics say reflects a campaign that is overly confident California\u2019s overwhelming Democratic registration advantage will carry Becerra to victory in November.<\/p>\n

Xavier Becerra has not answered the media\u2019s questions in an open forum in almost two months. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Becerra was last made available for questions from reporters on June 9, according to KCRA 3\u2019s Ashley Zavala<\/a> and ABC 10\u2019s Jenny Huh<\/a>, just a week after the June 2 primary propelled the former Biden administration health secretary into the November runoff against Hilton.<\/p>\n

The duck-and-weave continued Wednesday at the state Capitol, where Becerra appeared at a press conference on voting rights before slipping out early and briskly heading toward a waiting vehicle<\/a> as reporters chased after him.<\/p>\n

Becerra refused to answer questions on the migrant child crisis during a press event Wednesday. Titus Wu\/CA Post<\/p>\n

Becerra said he would take part in a debate with Steve Hilton but did not elaborate. Titus Wu\/CA Post<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you have any regrets about your HHS career?\u201d The California Post asked twice with no response.<\/p>\n

Becerra eventually offered one answer when Huh asked whether he would accept Hilton\u2019s challenge to debate. <\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Becerra\u2019s campaign has yet to say when, where or how many times a debate could occur.<\/p>\n

Republican gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton blasted Becerra\u2019s campaign for hiding from reporters. REUTERS<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s actually unbelievable to me that Becerra seems to be running this race \u2014 if running is the word \u2014 in such a lazy, arrogant and entitled manner,\u201d Republican challenger Steve Hilton<\/a> told The Post.<\/p>\n

\u201cWho does he think he is?\u201d<\/p>\n

Hilton has already agreed to multiple debates in the runoff for California governor. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Hilton added, \u201cHe\u2019s acting like the next man up for the top job in a Soviet politburo. He\u2019s just the latest puppet to be installed by the machine without bothering to even go through even the pretense of actual democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Becerra has plenty of reasons to clam up and sit tight.<\/p>\n

Democrats had nearly 10.4 million registered voters heading into the primary, or 44.9% of California\u2019s electorate, compared with about 5.8 million Republicans, or just under 25% of registered voters, according to the California Secretary of State.<\/p>\n

Becerra also finished first in the crowded June primary with about 28% of the vote, compared with roughly 25% for Hilton and 23% for progressive billionaire Tom Steyer.<\/p>\n

Becerra has a fair amoutn of baggage after roughly four decades in politics. Getty Images<\/p>\n

No Republican has won a California gubernatorial election since Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006.<\/p>\n

Hilton, who was endorsed by President Trump, argues Becerra is treating that built-in advantage as permission to coast through the general election without submitting to the traditional scrutiny of a statewide campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s literally running away from questions from reporters. He\u2019s running away from a debate with me,\u201d Hilton said. \u201cBut he can\u2019t run away from his terrible record in his growing migrant kids abuse scandal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Becerra has his fair share of baggage after nearly four decades as a career politician.<\/p>\n

His handling of unaccompanied migrant children<\/a> while running the Department of Health and Human Services has come under renewed scrutiny after a senior federal official told The Post that roughly 330,000 cases involving children released during Becerra\u2019s tenure remain unresolved.<\/p>\n

The child migrant crisis was even worse than previously known, according to an HHS official. VCG via Getty Images<\/p>\n

More than 330,000 child migrant cases remain unresolved as federal authorities cannot locate them. REUTERS<\/p>\n

A senior HHS official told The Post that more than 40 child migrants have died since coming to the US. Getty Images<\/p>\n

John Fabbricatore, a senior adviser with HHS\u2019 Office of Refugee Resettlement, also said more than 40 children processed by Becerra\u2019s agency have since died while many were sexually trafficked or forced into labor.<\/p>\n

Becerra\u2019s political orbit was also embroiled in a corruption scandal.<\/p>\n

Dana Williamson will be sentenced in her corruption case in September. Rafael Fontoura for CA Post<\/p>\n

Dana Williamson, a longtime Democratic operative who managed Becerra\u2019s campaign accounts, is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 17 after pleading guilty<\/a> to bank fraud, filing a false tax return and lying to the FBI.<\/p>\n

Williamson admitted helping Becerra\u2019s former chief of staff, Sean McCluskie, secretly funnel $225,000 from a campaign committee tied to Becerra into McCluskie\u2019s personal bank account through sham consulting contracts, according to federal prosecutors.<\/p>\n

Becerra said he had no knowledge of the scheme and he was never accused or charged in the matter.<\/p>\n

Williamson executed a scheme to stal money from Becerra\u2019s campaign. David McGlynn for CA Post<\/p>\n

There is also a pattern of Becerra just being plain awkward in off-the-cuff remarks.<\/p>\n

Last month, he drew ridicule after telling a conference of Latino leaders that visitors seeking authentic tacos should skip established restaurants, which pay taxes and apply for permits<\/a>, for street vendors.<\/p>\n

Becerra infuriated restaurant owners by saying people should skip tax-paying restaurants for taco carts. David Buchan for Ca Post<\/p>\n

\u201cAll I know is there\u2019s real food in California and there\u2019s real street tacos and you don\u2019t get them in some establishment that\u2019s been around for a long time,\u201d Becerra said. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou get it from the street from the guy who\u2019s been making it for a long time in his little cart.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Becerra\u2019s latest dash from reporters quickly became fodder for conservative talk radio.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is like someone is accused of murder, and they\u2019re walking from the courthouse while the trial is going on, and they can\u2019t get away from the press corps fast enough,\u201d KABC host John Phillips<\/a> said.<\/p>\n

Becerra is expected to appear at an event in Sacramento on Tuesday. Getty Images<\/p>\n

Co-host Randy Wang piled on by comparing it to a \u201cperp walk.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is not what you\u2019d expect from somebody that is actively trying to get your vote,\u201d Wang said.<\/p>\n

Jonathan Underland, a spokesperson for the Becerra campaign, said the Democratic candidate will attend a summit being held Tuesday in Sacramento by media outlet Politico and took a shot at Hilton.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile Trump\u2019s lapdog is busy chasing cars, the press corps will have plenty of time to speak with Secretary Becerra as he crisscrosses the state, hearing directly from Californians about their greatest challenges and his plan to solve them together,\u201d Underland wrote in an email.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Xavier Becerra is running \u2014 for California governor and away from the press. The Democratic frontrunner has gone…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":426029,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,46666,9,8,989,943,973,13,17382,3586,3707],"class_list":["post-426028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-governor-election-2026","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-elections","tag-governor","tag-media","tag-politics","tag-steve-hilton","tag-us-news","tag-xavier-becerra"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=426028"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426028\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/426029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=426028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=426028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=426028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}