A former mayor of Los Angeles accused fellow California Democrats Kamala Harris and Xavier Becerra of being "intentionally complicit" in covering up Joe Biden's cognitive decline while he was president.
Antonio Villaraigosa, former two-term mayor and 2026 Democrat hopeful for California governor, lobbed the accusations against the former vice president and health and human services secretary on the release day of the book "Original Sin."
"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."
Becerra is also running to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is ineligible to seek reelection under term limits, in 2026 while Harris is mulling a run.
"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.
Neither Harris nor Becerra is featured prominently in the book, written by CNN's Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson of Axios. According to the book, Harris didn't witness or express misgivings about Biden's decline, Politico reported, but she was a forceful defender of the president in the aftermath of the pivotal debate on June 27, 2024, when Biden's performance sent shock waves through the Democratic Party.
As for Becerra, the book details how Biden once confused him with then-Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, Politico reported.
"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 in the statement.
In a statement, Becerra said he met with Biden when he "important decisions" needed to be made.
"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."
"Original Sin" was released two days after Biden's office announced he had an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had spread to his bones.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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