Xavier Becerra gives first TV interview of California governor campaign

LOS ANGELES - It's official.

Xavier Becerra is running for California governor and gave the first TV interview of his campaign to FOX 11's statewide political show, "The Issue Is: with Elex Michaelson."

What they're saying:

"Elex, if all goes well, I'll be the next Governor of our great state...yes, I am running."

Becerra mentioned the story of his immigrant parents while explaining his decision. 

"My father was a construction worker, my mother was a clerical worker. Both immigrants. They found a way to buy a house, send 4 kids to college and the military and then retire with peace of mind," he explained. 

Becerra said California is no longer affordable for a family like that. 

"Can a construction worker and a clerical worker do that today? I don't know.  And I'm not interested during our watch that our families can no longer live the California dream ,so now I'm in mostly for that," he added. 

He continued to explain that it wasn't his only motivating factor. 

"I definitely have to get in now that I'm seeing what's happening in Washington D.C."

The backstory:

From 2021 to 2025, Becerra served as the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services. He was appointed by President Biden at the height of the COVID 19 pandemic. 

Becerra has been appalled by the actions of President Donald Trump's replacement for him in that role, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. He's especially worried about the proposed cut of 10,000 jobs from the Department. 

"You can not continue to see the erosion of all that was done to lift up this country. All those people who were fired are not bad. All those programs that they are eliminating are not bad," he said. 

Becerra represented Southern California in Congress from 1993 to 2017, where he had stints as chair of the House Democratic Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. 

From 2017 to 2021, Becerra served as the Attorney General of California. That included the beginning of the first Trump Administration, where Becerra sued then Pres. Trump 120 times. 

Becerra joins a crowded field of announced candidates already in this Governor's race. Michaelson asked him what his "lane" would be towards victory. 

"Builder. I think as Attorney General for our state, I proved a protector of our values...and someone who knows how to execute," he said. 

Michaelson also asked repeatedly what specific policy changes he would make and he didn't give a specific answer, but talked more about his process for governing and repeatedly talked about the concept of "scrubbing" problems. 

"You need to bring the problem to the table with the best experts, you scrub it, whatever is clean and survives, that's what you do."

When Michaelson asked what he'd do differently than Gov. Newsom, he didn't mention a clear policy distinction. 

"We're going to move, we're not going to wait, we're going to build and we're going to execute," he said. 

Gov. Newsom approved healthcare for undocumented Californians, which has turned out to cost taxpayers billions more than was originally promised. Would Becerra continue that program?

"Do I believe that everyone in the state of California should have access to  the healthcare they need? I do," Becerra said. "Can we afford to do it? That's where a governor needs to decide...that's where you bring everyone in...you scrub it..if we can't afford it, we need to be realistic."

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Watch the full interview below. 

Dig deeper:

Ahead of this week's debate in Sacramento, Michaelson asked about whether transgender individuals who were born male should be allowed to compete in female sports. 

"I say there are probably more lightning strikes that hit people than transgender athletes who want to play in women's sports. This has been blown way out of proportion."

He continued to say, "If you want to play a sport, what does your school or what does the athletic body say? They're the ones who govern. If they decide you can play, I'm not going to get in the way. If they say you shouldn't play, you don't have a right under the constitution to play."

Becerra said he's committed to protecting transgender youth, and everyone, from bullying. 

Is Kamala Harris running?

The Kamala Harris factor:

Former Vice President Kamala Harris has suggested she'll make a decision about whether she'll enter the race for Governor by late summer. 

Some candidates have said they'd drop out of the race if Harris gets in, but not Becerra. 

"It makes no difference to me who is in or not, I'm in," he said.