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Democratic California gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra is taking heat from critics over a contentious exchange he had with a local reporter about whether he was subjecting himself to a “gotcha piece.”
Becerra, who is now widely considered a leading Democratic candidate in California’s jungle primary following the exit of disgraced former Rep. Eric Swalwell, sat down with KTLA’s Annie Rose Ramos as part of the station’s interview series on the top hopefuls in the race.
However, in the interview that aired Tuesday, Becerra appeared to try setting the terms with the reporter.
“By the way, this is a profile piece. This is not a gotcha piece, right?” Becerra began.
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Democratic California gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra went viral for an exchange he had with a KTLA reporter, stressing he wanted a “profile” and not a “gotcha piece.” (Leon Bennett/Getty Images for CBS Television Stations)
“Look, I think these questions are fair. It’s in order to learn about you as a candidate,” Ramos responded.
“So long as it’s about the profile,” Becerra doubled down.
“I don’t know how you define profile, but I’d like to begin the interview,” Ramos replied.
“The way I describe profile is you talk about all the things I’ve done, things I want to do — along with some tough questions, but not only tough questions,” Becerra said.
Becerra did, in fact, face tough questions — including how he’d address homelessness and his record as the Biden-era Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary, specifically claims his agency lost track of over 85,000 migrant children who entered the country illegally.
Becerra is widely seen as the leading Democratic candidate in California’s jungle primary. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Ramos later told her KTLA colleagues she was “caught off guard” by Becerra’s comments, saying her experience was “dramatically different” from the other candidates she sat down with.
“To have it start this way before I had even asked a question… it’s about asking some of the hard questions sometimes but allowing our viewers to get to know each candidate,” Ramos said. “So that is why not just myself but our editors and executive producers here at KTLA decided to include that portion in this piece.”
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KTLA’s Annie Rose Ramos said she was “caught off guard” by Becerra’s comments to her at the beginning of the interview. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
Becerra’s conduct was widely panned on social media.
“A man telling a younger woman how to do her job, this just posted on KTLA Los Angeles. Dude it’s 2026,” Democratic strategist Michael Trujillo reacted.
“Politicians and candidates…let your staff have these whiny conversations! Or at least don’t do it on camera!” Pod Save America podcast co-host Tommy Vietor exclaimed.
“This is not surprising to anyone who has ever covered Becerra. He once held up his fingers in the sign of the cross to ward me off, as though I were a vampire, after a piece accurately describing his effort to undermine Pelosi with the Prog Caucus over ACA public option,” NBC News correspondent Jonathan Allen wrote, referring to a 2010 incident during Becerra’s time as a congressman.
“How come Fauci was the face of Biden’s COVID response and not the HHS secretary? We may never know,” Semafor reporter David Weigel joked.
Others made comparisons to Democratic gubernatorial rival Katie Porter, who had a similar exchange last year with CBS California correspondent Julie Watts, telling her she didn’t want to have an “unhappy experience” and threatened to walk out of the interview over follow-up questions she received.
The Becerra campaign did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital‘s request for comment.
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