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.
Updated May 21 at 7:35 a.m. EDT.