Xavier Becerra, the surging Democratic candidate for California governor, made an odd assumption ahead of his interview with KTLA this week, preemptively asking the reporter if the TV spot was a “gotcha piece” and demanding that he be asked “not only tough questions.”
The former secretary of health and human services for the Biden administration pressed KTLA 5 reporter Annie Rose Ramos ahead of their interview clarifying that the piece would be a profile story.
“By the way, this is a profile piece. This is not a gotcha piece, right?” Becerra asked after cameras started rolling.
“Well, look, I think these questions are fair. It’s in order to learn about you as a candidate,” Ramos said.
“So long as it’s about the profile,” he said.
“I don’t know how you define profile, but I’d like to begin the interview,” she replied.
“The way I describe profile is you talk about all the things that I’ve done, things I want to do, and along with some tough questions,” he said. “But not only tough questions.”
Awkward moment kicks off KTLA interview with Xavier Becerra. @CaliforniaICP Full report: https://t.co/UcMXzidzrf pic.twitter.com/OViYkfTg3t
— KTLA (@KTLA) May 12, 2026
When Ramos was asked by KTLA morning anchors about the “gotcha piece” comment, the reporter said she was caught off guard and that the other candidates she interviewed, Tom Steyer (D) and Chad Bianco (R), made no such comment.
Ramos asked Becerra about his time serving as the health secretary under Biden from 2021 to 2025, specifically pressing on a 2023 report that said his department could not find 85,000 children, who had been brought into the U.S. and were to be monitored by the department.
The former California attorney general asked if those were “talking points from Donald Trump,” and Ramos clarified that it was from a New York Times article.
Becerra also received criticism for his knowledge of former Rep. Eric Swalwell’s alleged sexual misconduct during a gubernatorial debate on News Nation. He was pressed about a comment he made, confirming that “many of us heard the rumors” of Swalwell’s actions while in he was chair of the Democratic Caucus.
Swalwell was a frontrunner in the gubernatorial race but dropped out and resigned from Congress over the scandal. He currently faces multiple investigations related to sexual misconduct allegations in Los Angeles, Manhattan and in the Justice Department.
