Xavier Becerra, President Joe Biden’s outgoing Health and Human Services secretary, is lamenting Americans’ abysmal distrust in federal health agencies while defending the administration’s censorship efforts and vaccine mandates on his way out the door.
Becerra blamed Americans’ distrust of federal health agencies on allegedly false public health content that circulates on social media, according to an interview the outgoing HHS secretary gave to The Washington Post that was published Sunday. The outgoing HHS secretary stood by the administration and his own agency’s pressuring of social media companies to remove vaccine content alleged to be disinformation and its since-retired coronavirus vaccine mandate for federal workers during the interview.
“Every chance I have to do what the science and the evidence is telling me is going to protect Americans and save lives … I’d do it [vaccine mandates] again,” Becerra told the Post. “I don’t know what more we can do [to regain trust].”
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Under Becerra’s leadership, HHS personnel directed social media companies to flag instances of alleged misinformation and provide counter talking points in response to allegedly false information on platforms.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg criticized Biden officials for pressuring the social media behemoth to flag and delete content the administration alleged to be disinformation during an appearance on the “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast Friday.
Support for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was largely stagnant during Biden’s term despite Becerra’s alleged efforts to regain Americans’ trust, according to Gallup polling which found that roughly 40% of Americans held favorable views of the public health agency between September 2021 and September 2024.
Biden notably accused Facebook of “killing people” to allow for alleged misinformation related to the coronavirus vaccines and the pandemic on the platform in July 2021.
To further suppress public health content the administration alleges to be misinformation, Becerra told the Post that Congress should give the department funding to launch advertising campaigns against information the administration deems false.
“I can’t go toe to toe with social media,” Becerra told the Post. “Will [Congress] give me some money to compete out there with all the disinformation?”
Under Becerra’s tenure, HHS required COVID-19 vaccination of staff within all Medicare and Medicaid-certified facilities.
Becerra also supported using taxpayer dollars to fund sex-change operations on minors, integrated “anti-racism” policies into the agency’s operations and allegedly provided free healthcare services to illegal migrants during his time leading HHS.
Robert Redfield, CDC director during President-elect Donald Trump’s first administration, previously told the Daily Caller News Foundation that some of the Biden administration’s actions directly contributed to federal health agencies losing support and credibility.
“The vaccine mandates were a big mistake. Closing down our economy—a big mistake. Shutting down our schools—a big mistake. So, there was a huge loss of credibility and trust that has to be rebuilt,” Redfield told the DCNF. “We should foster discussion and debate [about vaccines], and if someone has a question about looking at data to determine a vaccine’s safety that shouldn’t be listed as anti-vax. That should be listed as wanting an honest, open discussion about what is the data?”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Trump’s nominee to lead HHS, notably opposes vaccine mandates and government censorship of vaccine content. Kennedy has yet to have his confirmation hearings before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee and Senate Finance Committee scheduled.
An HHS spokesperson did not immediately respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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