Jun 27, 2024; Atlanta, GA, USA; President Joe Biden during the debate at CNN's studios in Atlanta. CNN Anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash are moderators of the debate. Mandatory Credit: Jack Gruber-USA TODAY
Sacramento, California – The California governor’s race has taken a dramatic turn after former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa accused two high-profile Democrats—former Vice President Kamala Harris and former Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra—of participating in a “cover-up” of President Joe Biden’s declining health.
Villaraigosa, who is running in the 2026 gubernatorial race, leveled the explosive accusation following the release of Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again, a new book by journalists Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson. The book details alarming moments from Biden’s presidency, including incidents where he allegedly failed to recognize close allies and required increasingly limited public schedules due to fatigue.
The revelations are raising uncomfortable questions for Democrats who remained loyal to Biden during the 2024 campaign, particularly after a disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump that contributed to Biden’s decision to withdraw from the race. Villaraigosa directly linked Becerra and Harris to what he claims was a deliberate effort to hide Biden’s condition.
“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 to The Los Angeles Times. “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.”
Becerra officially announced his gubernatorial campaign earlier this year, while Harris has not declared her intentions but experts widely believe that she is weighing a run. Villaraigosa called on both to publicly disclose what they knew about Biden’s health and why they didn’t speak out. On social media, he claimed the cover-up “directly led to a second Donald Trump term—and as a result, all Californians are paying the price.”
Becerra responded 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 worldwide pandemic. And we delivered.”
As scrutiny intensifies, other Democrats with ties to the Biden administration also face questions. Political analyst Chuck Todd said last week that the controversy could taint any potential 2028 contenders who served under Biden, making them “persona non grata.”
Harris is expected to announce her decision to run for governor of California by the end of the summer.
