Biden Insider Torched Xavier Becerra on CNN and Van Jones Could Not Hide His Reaction

Xavier Becerra told California voters his Biden cabinet record made him qualified to lead the state.

Then a Biden insider got in front of a CNN camera.

What she said about Becerra – and the look on Van Jones's face when she said it – is something the Becerra campaign cannot spin away.

The Moment His Own Party's Insiders Turned on Him

Xochitl Hinojosa didn't hedge.

Hinojosa – who served as Director of the DOJ Office of Public Affairs under Biden – looked straight into the camera after Tuesday's gubernatorial debate and said she does not trust Xavier Becerra.

"Can I tell you, after working in Joe Biden's administration? I do not trust Xavier Becerra to do that," she said. "I don't think he'll be able to stand up to Trump and lead."

Van Jones – sitting right there on the CNN panel – could not hide his reaction.

Scott Jennings was equally stunned.

A panelist audibly said "Whoa."

Hinojosa kept going.

"When I saw him in the administration, I think a lot of people did, and people understand this: he was not effective in governing," she said.

Then she dropped the part that will end up in every rival's attack ad.

"I think that a lot of people in the Biden administration are talking about this, because they realize that he was not an effective HHS secretary," she continued. "If you ask any cabinet secretary, they would tell you the same thing."

This was not a Republican operative or a conservative hit job.

This was a Biden loyalist who watched Becerra operate from inside the building – and walked away convinced he wasn't up to the job.

https://twitter.com/CurtisHouck/status/2052038439554421141

The Record She Was Talking About

Hinojosa didn't have to spell out what she meant.

The record speaks for itself.

Under Becerra's watch at HHS, more than 85,000 unaccompanied migrant children were released to sponsors and then lost track of by the federal government.

The HHS Office of Inspector General concluded in 2022 that Becerra's own guidance – designed to speed up releases – had gutted safeguards and put children at greater risk of landing with dangerous sponsors.

In July 2021, eleven managers inside HHS's Office of Refugee Resettlement sent a memo up the chain warning that labor trafficking was climbing and that the agency had become "one that rewards individuals for making quick releases, and not one that rewards individuals for preventing unsafe releases."

The memo didn't produce reform.

Becerra's response was to push harder.

At a staff meeting, he told HHS employees that Henry Ford would have been disgusted by their pace.

"If Henry Ford had seen this in his plants, he would have never become famous and rich. This is not the way you do an assembly line," Becerra said – about children.

House Republicans subpoenaed Becerra and HHS for records on how sponsors were being vetted and monitored.

A longtime Democratic Party strategist told Fox News Digital what the party's own insiders were privately saying: "Becerra was horrible at HHS, and thinking he can become Governor of California after that record is delusional. Voters deserve better than a recycled cabinet secretary who couldn't manage his own department."

That is not a Republican talking.

The Biden Brand Is Collapsing and His Own Allies Know It

Gavin Newsom's allies coalesced around Becerra months ago, betting that Biden credentials would play well with California Democrats.

That bet is going sideways.

Neera Tanden – Biden's former White House Domestic Policy Council chair – rushed to X to defend Becerra after Hinojosa's comments, insisting he "got big things done."

One CNN panelist cut through the noise: "I'm not sure the Joe Biden-adjacent brand is a good brand right now."

Biden's own party shoved him off the ticket in 2024 when the pretending became impossible.

Becerra is still building his campaign on that wreckage.

Twenty-seven days before the June 2 primary, a Biden insider just handed every one of his rivals exactly what they needed.

The only question now is whether California Democrats are paying attention – or whether they're going to do what their party does best and fail upward one more time.

Sources:

• Titus Wu, "Ex-Biden official rips into Gavin Newsom allies' governor candidate," New York Post, May 6, 2026.
• Mairead Elordi, "Ex-Biden DOJ spokesperson reveals she doesn't trust Becerra to lead California," Fox News, May 6, 2026.
• Breitbart News, "Fmr. Biden DOJ Spox: Becerra 'Was Not Effective in Government', I Don't Trust Him," Breitbart, May 6, 2026.
• Staff, "Candidates for California Governor Target Becerra in Testy Debate," RealClearPolitics, May 6, 2026.
• Mairead Elordi, "Ex-Biden official's campaign faces heat as missing children scandal resurfaces: 'Voters deserve better,'" Fox News, April 29, 2026.
• House Energy and Commerce Committee, "Alone and Exploited, Migrant Children Work Brutal Jobs Across the U.S.," July 24, 2023.